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Biometric Technology Today • March 20066
acquisition
Viisage completesSecuriMetrics acquisitionViisage Technology has completed theacquisition of privately-held SecuriMetrics, asupplier of handheld iris recognition and multi-modal biometric devices. The purchase isexpected to add approximately US$15 million inrevenue in 2006.
Viisage paid US$28 million in cash forSecuriMetrics, net of the US$2 million in cashon the balance sheet. Shareholders have theopportunity to earn an additional US$13 millionif performance thresholds and contingencies arereached.
Together with the completion of the Identixmerger, Viisage would be able to offer a fullrange of handheld and multi-modal biometricsolutions encompassing iris, finger and face.
The cash portion of the purchase is beingfunded from the US$100 million investment thatL-1 Investment Partners made in Viisage in 2005.
It is believed that the new Viisage, Identix,SecuriMetrics entity will run with a holdingcompany at the top and various, fairlyautonomous, divisions below – in this case,Biometrics, Credentials, Fingerprint Services andperhaps Terminals.
SecuriMetrics business operations will remain inits current location in Martinez, California, USA. Contact: Chad Crouch at Viisage,Tel: +1 703 414 5474, Email: [email protected]
joint venture
Precise Biometricscompletes Chinese dealSwedish fingerprint technology companyPrecise Biometrics has completed a deal thatwill see it enter into a joint venture in Chinawith the Smart Unicorn Group. The agreementgives Precise Biometrics the opportunity topenetrate the Chinese market for mobileservices, and also opens up a new sales channelfor its biometric security products.
According to Precise Biometrics, the company’sChinese patents have been transferred to the jointlyowned company Smart Unicorn Solutions.Furthermore approx. SEK 4.4 million (US$553,000) in available funds, which are to be usedfor production, expansion and the development ofthe operations, have been transferred to the jointventure company. A further SEK 7.8 million will beprovided in 2006.
Following various share transactions, PreciseBiometrics is expected to own 30 % of SmartUnicorn Solutions.
According to Dave Wu, CEO at SmartUnicorn Group: “The Chinese market is hugeand the requirements for security in conjunctionwith an increased demand for mobile serviceshave meant that we have been looking for acompetent partner with cutting-edge technologyin the field of biometrics for some time.”Contact: Christer Bergman at Precise Biometrics,Email [email protected] Wu at Smart Unicorn Group,Email [email protected]
acquisition
Croma aquires PhotobasePhotobase, a provider of biometric securitysolutions primarily for prisons and immigrationcentres, has become a part of the Croma Group– an AIM listed public company.
Supported by major institutional investors,Croma is a group specialising in surveillance,security and defence related products andservices dealing with government agencies,police, military and commercial organisations.
According to the companies, the combining ofCroma Group and Photobase will strengthen bothcompanies and open new opportunities for futureproduct development and customer service.
Photobase will be Croma Photobase, andoperate as a division of Croma Defence SystemsLtd, which is a subsidiary of Croma Group.
agreement
DSV solution for digital penand paperWonderNet, a provider of biometric signatureauthentication solutions, has entered into anagreement with PaperIQ, a provider of digitalpen and paper solutions.
Under the terms of the agreement, PaperIQ isto incorporate WonderNet’s Penflow technologywith its digital pen and paper product line. Theintegrated solution will be offered as part of theEnterprise edition of PaperIQ’s digital paperprocessing platform enabling customers tobiometrically verify a signatory’s identity.
The Penflow biometric signatureauthentication engine provides users of thedigital pens with the ability to uniquely identifyand verify handwritten signatures, allowing theconstruction of robust document workflowprocedures. A biometrically signed version of acompleted document can be also used as a legallybinding electronic copy of the original form.Contact: Alex Herman at WonderNet,Tel: +972 3 9036860, Fax: +972 3 9304925,Email: [email protected]
BUSINESS WATCH
company news
• Fujitsu MicroelectronicsAmerica and SequiamBiometrics have announced thatthey will work together to createbiometrically enabled devices.Under the agreement, Sequiamwill develop OEM (OriginalEquipment Manufacturer)applications using Fujitsubiometric sensors and integratethe sensors into existing SequiamBiometrics hardware andsoftware solutions. It is hopedthe Fujitsu MBF200 singletouch sensor and MBF310Sweep Sensor ICs combinedwith Sequiam’s software andrapid hardware development kitswill give customers the capabilityto design a wide range ofbiometric security andauthentication systems.
• FacePrint Global Solutions(FGS) has secured US$10million funding from CornellCapital Partners. The companyannounced that it has signed aStandby Equity DistributionAgreement (SEDA) with theinvestor enabling it to expand itsoperations over the next twoyears. This move will allow FGSto complete its research anddevelopment work on a widerange of products, including EZ-MATCH, the company’s lawenforcement 3D facialcomposite software.
• Cogent Systems hasannounced its financial resultsfor the fourth quarter and yearended 31 December 2005.Revenues for the quarter wereUS$46.2 million, a 20%increase on revenues of US$38.4million in the previous quarterand a 46% increase on revenuesof US$31.8 million in the sameperiod last year. During thisquarter the company woncontracts for new AFIS systemsabroad and in multiple countiesin California and receivedfollow-on orders from customersin North America, Asia andLatin America. For the yearended 31 December 2005,revenues increased 82% toUS$159.9 million, up fromUS$87.7 million in 2004.
