IdentiSys acquires again

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.—Systems integrator IdentiSys, which in June acquired the ID division of Claritus, is moving forward with its stated plan to expand geographically.

In August, IdentiSys announced that it was acquiring the Identification, Security and Presentation divisions of Mountainland Business Systems. Mountainland is based in Salt Lake City and has additional offices in Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Montana and Wyoming.

“This is one of the largest acquisitions we've done in terms of geography, personnel, customers and products,” Deb Ferril, president and COO of IdentiSys, said about the Mountainland deal. "They've been doing identification [systems] for a long time and have a very solid name in the business.”

Ferril said the acquisition brings expertise in AMAG systems. “This expands our capabilities,” she said.

The deal “physically adds six states with personnel, installations and 5,500 new customers,” although some of those are not physical security customers, Ferril said. “It's pretty significant.”

Michael Shields, founder and CEO of IdentiSys, said in a prepared statement: “Our strategy in this case targeted expansion [farther] west of our headquarters in Minnesota. With the addition of the Mountainland Business Systems divisions, we now offer sales and on-site services in over 50 percent of the U.S., including Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.”

IdentiSys is a $40 million company that is privately owned by Shields. It began 13 years ago as an integrator of pure identification systems, but it now does full security integration in a variety of vertical markets.

IdentiSys has completed 10 acquisitions in the past seven years. The Mountainland deal is the third acquisition in the past six months.

Mountainland's specialty is "providing identification technology solutions including digital photo ID systems, embossed card personalization systems, loyalty or membership card systems, smart card/biometric applications, secure access/access control/CCTV and patient identification solutions to the corporate, government, health care, education, membership/loyalty, first responder and emergency management markets in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Montana and Wyoming."