More Economic News
As we hear the gloom and doom of the current economic situation, with mass layoffs still coming, and the United States close to defaulting on its debt, there is one glowing light amidst all of this chaos: yep, it’s Biometrics. In the last few weeks alone, I have written a couple of Postings in which private venture capital is flowing through the Biometrics Industry, at a time, when IT in general, is getting its budget slashed all over Corporate America. Well, today, I bring you more positive economic news again: This time it is a huge merger and acquisition activity. The Biometric Vendors involved are “L-Identity Solutions, Inc.”, and “Safran”.
The details: “After completing all required approval procedures, Safran today announced that it has finalized the acquisition of L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc., a leading identity management solutions provider in the United States, for a total cash amount of $1.09 billion ($12 per share), which was originally announced in the press release on September 20, 2010. Following this transaction, Safran becomes the world leader in biometric identity solutions . . . L-1’s businesses (biometric and identity management solutions: access control, secure credentialing and enrollment services) generated sales exceeding USD 450 million in 2010. L-1’s financial results will be included in Safran’s consolidated financial statements, effective today . . . Assuming this acquisition had been completed in 2010, Safran’s security business sales would have totalled Euro 1.4 billion in 2010, with a total of more than 7,200 employees of which 2 200 are in the United States.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9117/).
My Take
Well, I am far from being a financial analyst, but I can offer my views as a technical writer. These are two HUGE Biometric Vendors. First, Safran consists of a subsidiary called “Morhpo”. From my knowledge, this division is gargantuan in the Physical Access Entry realm of applications. They probably have some of the best developed and proven technology with regards to Fingerprint Recognition, and they are massively involved in the National ID Card and e-Passport across many nations around the world.
Second, L-1 Identity Solutions is another big Biometrics Vendor. I know in the past they have eaten up other reputable Biometric Vendors, one of them being Identix, Inc. At the time, even I was involved in reselling their Fingerprint Recognition devices. L-1 I would say in some ways is like a Microsoft version in the Biometrics Industry, as it has a huge portfolio of offerings, products, and services. But most notable, based from the Postings I have written in the past, they are probably best known for their applications in the Federal Government sector, and providing Biometric solutions to the military (especially in the War on Terrorism, where Biometrics is being heavily used to verify/and or identify terrorism suspects).
So you put these two Biometric Vendors, and yep you got it, a powerhouse for a Biometrics Vendor. In terms of specific numbers, the total value of this deal is in excess of $1 Billion, which translates to $12 per share to the buyer. There will be more than 7,000+ employees, some of which 2,200 will be based here in the United States. Now that this merger and acquisition is completed, I think we will see even a much bigger role globally in terms of Security solutions, obviously. Once again, I think the biggest dominance will be in the National ID Card and e-Passport applications, especially for providing these to developed countries who want to adopt it.
And of course, we will probably see an escalation in the military use of Biometrics as well, at least here in the United States. Hopefully, as a result of this new size, there can be an impact made as well in terms of the public acceptance of Biometrics as well. But probably the best news of all: From what I have read, there appears to be no lay offs, or people losing jobs. So now as we are seeing the Biometrics Industry being washed amidst in new cash, this sector is also creating jobs. Perhaps our so called electors at Capitol Hill can take a look at this, and learn something about real job creation and growth.
Following this transaction, Safran becomes the world leader in biometric identity solutions . . . L-1’s businesses (biometric and identity management solutions: access control, secure credentialing and enrollment services) generated sales exceeding USD 450 million in 2010. L-1’s financial results will be included in Safran’s consolidated financial statements,
Posted by: Security Jobs | April 18, 2012 at 03:41 AM