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Assa Abloy to acquire LaserCard for $80m

Assa Abloy to acquire LaserCard for $80m HID says synergy will expand capabilities

IRVINE, Calif.—Following closely upon its announcement to purchase Cardo, Assa Abloy on Dec. 21 announced its intent to buy embedded-hologram credential manufacturer LaserCard for $80 million.

Further, HID Global, which is owned by Assa Abloy, said the teaming of LaserCard and HID represents an important advancement in HID Global's worldwide market position in the government sector and will significantly expand its portfolio of technology capabilities.

“The LaserCard organization brings incremental skills and core technical competencies that will augment HID Global's secure identity strategy,” said HID Global president and CEO Denis Hébert, in a release. “It will widen the breadth of our e-government business with a unique selection of products, technologies and a range of service capabilities that are highly synergistic with HID Global's current offerings.”

HID Global is a provider of secure ID solutions. LaserCard is a German-based provider of secure identity credentials for large-scale citizen and immigrant identification programs with capabilities ranging from secure card design to issuance system implementation. The company's solutions feature highly differentiated, counterfeit-resistant optical security media (OSM) and embedded hologram technology that enables documentation authentication with the human eye.

“HID Global and LaserCard share a common perspective relative to the secure identity market,” said LaserCard president and CEO Robert DeVincenzi, in a release. “The combination of our two companies significantly expands the capability and value LaserCard represents to our partners and customers in the government issued ID sector, with compelling opportunities to leverage HID Global's market momentum and global coverage for future diversification and growth.”

The offer, at $6.25 per share, marks a premium of about 40 percent above LaserCard's closing stock price on Dec. 20, according to published reports.

Assa Abloy expects to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2011.

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