Voice biometrics company Persay sold for $6.7 million

Published 4 January 2011

Persay, which was spun off from Comverse Technology Inc. subsidiary Verint Systems Inc. in 2000, raised $10.4 million in four financing rounds; the sale price is lower than the amount invested in the company

Voice biometrics company pPersay Inc.p has been sold. Two laconic notices to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) by shareholders Teuza — A Fairchild Technology Venture Ltd. and Shrem Fudim Technologies Ltd. did not disclose the name of the buyer or the size of the deal, but mentioned how much they would get for their holding in the company.

Globes reports that Shrem Technologies said that it would make about $2 million for its 30 percent holding in Persay, indicating a sale price of $6.7 million, less than the amount invested in the company. According to Israel Venture Capital Association, Persay raised $10.4 million in four financing rounds.

Shrem Fudim Group Ltd. unit Shrem Technologies added that it could receive an additional $360,000 for Persay, and that it will report a pretax capital gain of NIS9.7 million on the sale. Tueza said that it had invested $410,000 and would make $1.15 million on its share of the company, which it did not disclose. Persay chairman, Dr. Shuky Gleitman, is a director at Teuza.

Persay develops voice biometrics solutions for verifying customers by companies’ customer services call centers, in order to prevent identity theft and other frauds. Persay was spun off from Comverse Technology Inc. subsidiary Verint Systems Inc. in 2000.

Persay’s founder and CEO is Almog Aley-Raz.