Viisage acquires SecuriMetrics

Published 7 February 2006

Viisage continues to expand, this time with the acquisition of iris recognition specialist which is also the manufacturer of a multimodal, hand-held biometric devic

Billerica, Massachusetts-based Viisage Technology (Nasdaq: VISG) is acquiring Martinez, California-based SecuriMetrics., a privately held manufacturer of hand-held iris recognition and multimodal biometric devices, software applications, and services. This acquisition, and the completion of its merger with Identix, will make Viisage the only U.S.-based manufacturer of a full-range, hand-held, multimodal biometric recognition solutions which encompass iris, finger, and face. The terms of the transaction call for Viisage to pay $28 million in cash, net of the $2 million in cash on the acquired company’s balance sheet. The acquisition agreement also calls for SecuriMetrics shareholders to earn up to an additional $13 million in consideration if key performance thresholds and contingencies are reached, of which $11.5 million would be paid in shares of Viisage common stock at a fixed price of $17.69 per share. The cash portion of the purchase price is being funded from the initial $100 million investment which L-1 Investment Partners made in Viisage in 2005. Robert LaPenta, chairman of the board of Viisage, said that “Iris-based recognition technologies are poised for growth as a highly accurate and mobile option for biometric identification. SecuriMetrics has both a unique set of products and services, as well as deep customer relationships at the local, state, federal and international level.”

SecuriMetrics is a good choice for Viisage. It offers a full suite of hardware, software, and services required to capture, encode, transmit, and establish identity based on iris patterns. SecuriMetrics’ PIER (for Portable Iris Enrollment & Recognition) device stores up to 200,000 individual iris images and can perform searches and return results to an operator. About 2,000 PIER devices are already deployed today in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cuba, and Bosnia. In addition, SecuriMetrics has also developed the HIIDE (for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment), which is capable of identifying people by using iris, finger, and face recognitions. The two devices are suitable for military and homeland security applications, chief among the latter the US-VISIT program. PIER and HIIDE are currently under review for trademark registration.

Read more in this news release