|
|
|
September 01, 2006
Leaders in biometrics industry merge
TMCnet News
|
|
|
|
(Stamford Advocate, The (Stamford, CT) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 30--Two of the country's leading biometric companies merged yesterday to form L-1 Identity Solutions Inc., a new entity that will be headquartered in Stamford.
The union of facial-recognition software maker Viisage Technology (News - Alert) Inc. and fingerprint-technology company Identix Inc. was led by Stamford-based L-1 Investment Partners LLC, a firm founded by Westport resident Robert LaPenta.
LaPenta, chairman of Viisage, will be chairman and chief executive officer of the new company. LaPenta was a co-founder and former president of defense-electronics maker L-3 Communications Holdings (News - Alert), and launched L-1 Investment in June 2005 with the intent to invest in the biometrics industry.
Biometrics companies make devices that use fingerprints, facial and iris recognition to identify people and spot potential terrorists. The $1.4 billion global biometrics industry is expected to grow to $3.5 billion by 2008, said Rob Allen, a research analyst with business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
"Biometrics is becoming part of everyday life," said Tovah Ladier, managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based International Biometric Industry Association.
The industry took off after Sept. 11, 2001, as government security programs began relying more on biometrics technology, Ladier said.
Today, governments throughout the world are using biometrics, as are the financial and health-care industries. The consumer marketplace also is using biometrics, she said. For example, laptop makers are now incorporating fingerprint recognition technology as a security feature.
In October, LaPenta's firm invested $100 million in Massachusetts-based Viisage, which among other things provides passport-security controls to the State Department.
Viisage has since completed several acquisitions, such as electronic fingerprinting technology company IBT, iris and multimodal identification and recognition device-maker SecuriMetrics, and Iridian Technologies, the firm responsible for the initial development and commercialization of iris recognition technology.
But the $770 million acquisition of Minnesota-based Identrix solidifies L-1 Identity Solutions as one of the most comprehensive biometrics providers in the world, said Jim Ezeby, president of the new company's secure credentialing division.
"This merger will significantly change the landscape of the identity solutions marketplace," Ezeby said. "Our biometrics capability is second to none."
L-1 Identity Solutions is now the only company that owns, develops and makes products for all three technologies -- facial recognition, fingerprint identification and iris recognition, he said.
"It's the largest identity solutions company today that was created to serve this marketplace," said Doni Fordyce, L-1 Identity Solutions' executive vice president of corporate communications.
This LaPenta-led merger is an exciting development within the industry, said Allen, of Frost & Sullivan.
L-1 Identity Solutions "is able to work with multiple biometrics, which is a new facet in the industry," he said. "They are well-positioned to answer multiple bids because they have so many technologies in place."
Many government contracts now specify multiple biometric technologies and L-1 Identity Solutions can meet the requirements, thereby snagging a significant portion of the marketplace, Allen said.
The new company employs about 700 people, who will remain at their existing locations throughout the country. The new corporate headquarters at 177 Broad St. will house the company's senior executive management, Fordyce said. About 20 people will work in Stamford.
As of yesterday, both Viisage and Identix delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange. The new company started trading this morning on the New York Stock Exchange, with LaPenta ringing the opening bell. The new ticker symbol is "ID."
Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
|
 |
|
|
|
Internet Telephony Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
CUSTOMER 
Cloud Computing Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
M2M Evolution Magazine
Call Center/CRM
Info Tech 
IP Communications 
Mobile 
Green 
Satellite 
Robotics 
