Biometrics firms match
By Jeffrey Sanders
Updated Thu September 1, 2005
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--Cross Match Technologies, a developer of optical fingerprint identification systems, completed its acquisition of similarly focused Jena, Germany-based Smiths Heimann Biometrics in August.
Cross Match purchased the company in a stock-for-stock transaction from Smiths Group, a London-based publicly held engineering company.
Will Smith, senior vice president and general counsel at Cross Match, said the company plans to phase out the SHB name in the future.
However, Smith did not provide a timetable for the rebranding efforts.
"There's value in the Smiths name and we will continue to use that in the marketplace," stated Smith.
"For all intents and purposes, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cross Match."
Smiths Group gained a minority stake of approximately 40 percent, as a result of the deal. The company said in a statement in July, that SHB earned GBP 13 million ($23 million) in its fiscal year ending June 2005.
Smith declined to disclose the full financial terms of the deal, noting that Cross Match is privately held and not inclined to do so.
However, Smith did describe Cross Match's transaction as substantial.
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