Viisage and Identix complete $770 million merger

When two become one: We have reported frequently about Viisage Technology and its indefagtible CEO Robert LaPenta, even going so far as to compare Viisage’s growing array of biometric technologies to the diverse offerings of General Electric. Identix has also caught our eye on numerous occasions, most recently when its AFIS-grade fingerprint algorithm matching technology offering, BioEngine 6, was confirmed by the latest NIST testing report as meeting or exceeding all of the qualifications of the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX); and when its TouchPrint Enhanced Definition Series of Live Scan offerings (which includes thirteen different products), and its facial quality assurance software for enrollment, were approved by the GSA for use within any PIV program. The two companies announced their long-expected merger this week, with Viisage paying $770 million in stock.

The new company will be known as L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID), but the announcement that the new company will be headed by LaPenta suggests things will remain much as they were before, at least from Viisage’s perspective. LaPenta has moved aggressively over the past few years to put together a wide portfolio of biometric companies, giving his company wide access to the security market. Among the companies recently acquired are Moorestown-based Iridian technologies ($35 million) and California-based Securimetrics ($28 million). Both produced iris-scanning technology.

LaPenta has said the biometrics market today reminded him of the aerospace and defense industry thirty years ago, when scores of entrepreneurial startups were clamoring for cold war defense dollars. Ultimately, he said, many of those companies needed management help “to go to the next level.”

L-1 Identity Solutions has an aggregate market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, and expects fourth quarter revenue of about $60 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $15 to $17 million.

- see the new company Web site here