On March 27, 2010, a signing ceremony was held in Beijing by both BGP and ION to formally announce successful establishment of INOVA, a land seismic equipment joint venture. Mr. Zhou Jiping, Vice President of CNPC, attended the ceremony and stated, " The establishment of the joint venture is a significant event in the geophysical industry and it is set to be conducive to the ongoing advancement of the global land geophysical equipment technologies and providing top-notch products and high value-added services to global energy companies."

The joint venture company, named INOVA Geophysical Equipment Limited, is owned 51% by BGP Inc. and 49% by ION Geophysical Corporation. It will offer a comprehensive portfolio of advanced geophysical technologies used in oil and gas exploration to land seismic service providers around the world. Offerings include energy source and source control systems, land seismic recording systems, and digital full-wave seismic sensors. Initial products to be marketed by INOVA include Aries(R), FireFly(R), and Scorpion(R) acquisition systems; AHV-IV(R) Vibroseis vehicles; ShotPro(R) and VibPro(R) source control systems; and VectorSeis(R).

INOVA’s seven-member Board of Directors appointed Mr. Steven A. Bate, formerly Senior Vice President of ION’s Land Imaging Systems group, as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company.