EMS Technologies will pay $15.5 million to acquire Sky Connect, Takoma Park, Md., a move EMS said will enable it to build an Iridium services-based business for the commercial and military aviation markets. Sky Connect, founded in 2003, offers satellite-based tracking, text messaging and telephone systems for airborne, ground-based and marine applications in the commercial and government markets. Its business focuses on the helicopter market supporting offshore oil and gas exploration and production. Other market segments Sky Connect serves include forest-fire fighting, emergency medical transport, law enforcement and commercial airlines. “Acquiring Sky Connect complements EMS’s aero-connectivity strategy by adding Iridium hardware and services business targeting the growing general aviation market. In addition, Sky Connect’s efforts with Qantas, Air New Zealand and El Al parallel our similar expansion into the air transport market,” said EMS Technologies’ President and CEO Paul Domorski. For related news