ION acquires Global Dynamics Incorporated, including proprietary SailWing technology

HOUSTON, March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ION Geophysical Corporation IO today announced that it has acquired Global Dynamics Incorporated (GDI), an Ontario-based company that designs and develops marine towing systems and equipment, including its proprietary SailWing technology.  ION plans to leverage SailWing technology to develop and sell commercial products for both source control and streamer deployment optimization in the towed streamer segment and to commercialize SailWings for use by its OceanGeo ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition company.

SailWings offer an innovative foil-based alternative to conventional marine diverters, with multiple patents pending.  SailWing configurations can be employed to optimize towed source arrays and augment towed streamer deployment systems, yielding significantly less drag, faster towing, improved fuel efficiency, and safer operations through their flexible and smaller footprint.  As a result, seismic contractors should be able to acquire surveys faster and at a lower cost.

ION President and CEO Brian Hanson commented, "Over the last few years, we have licensed SailWings for several novel applications, including under-ice towing and for source array optimization for ocean bottom surveys, with impressive results.  We have already filed our own IP improvements around this technology platform, which ultimately led to our acquisition of the technology to provide additional offerings for our revitalized towed streamer devices business and to further differentiate our OceanGeo ocean bottom business. In the current market environment, offering solutions to our towed streamer devices customers that help them improve their efficiency, while giving ourselves a unique ability to expedite ocean bottom surveys, is an attractive proposition."

Dan Martin, Founder and President of GDI, added, "I have enjoyed a close working relationship with ION over the past few years as they developed some novel commercial applications for our technology.  I am excited to now be part of ION, and to continue the collaboration to create multiple SailWing applications. I believe we can significantly improve on the longstanding manner with which the industry has deployed, towed, and retrieved marine sources, cables, and streamer systems."

About ION

ION is a leading provider of technology-driven solutions to the global oil & gas industry.  ION's offerings are designed to help companies reduce risk and optimize assets throughout the E&P lifecycle. For more information, visit iongeo.com.

Contacts
ION (Investor relations)
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Steve Bate, +1 281.552.3011
steve.bate@iongeo.com

ION (Media relations)
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Karen Abercrombie, +1 713.366.7281
karen.abercrombie@iongeo.com

The information herein contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  These forward-looking statements may include information and other statements that are not of historical fact.  Actual results may vary materially from those described in these forward looking statements.  All forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  These risks and uncertainties include risks associated with the timing and development of the Company's products and services, the competitiveness of offers, pricing pressure, decreased demand, and changes in oil prices; and political, execution, regulatory, and currency risks.  Additional risk factors, which could affect actual results are disclosed by the Company in its fillings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-ks filed during the year.  The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE ION Geophysical Corporation