Gemalto on Monday said it has completed its $850 million purchase of the identity management business of 3M Corp. [MMM], adding biometric technologies and document security features to its product portfolio.
Netherlands-based Gemalto first announced the deal last December. The company said that 3M’s biometric technologies are used for government and commercial applications, adding that the purchase positions it to “provide solutions for the promising commercial biometrics market.”
“With the acquisition of 3M’s Identity Management Business, Gemalto makes a strategic move by in-sourcing biometric technology,” Philippe Vallee, Gemalto’s CEO, said in a statement. “Combining our market access, technologies and expertise will enable Gemalto to further accelerate the deployment of trusted national identities and to offer strong end-to-end biometric authentication solutions throughout the digital economy.”
3M’s identity business, which was largely built through the purchase of Cogent for $430 million in 2010, provides biometric hardware and software matching capabilities. The business had about $130 million in sales in 2009. The company’s automated fingerprint identification system is the core fingerprint matching software in the Department of Homeland Security’s IDENT biometric database and matching system.
3M’s biometric matching software is also sold to state and local law enforcement agencies, and international government agencies. The company at one time also sold handheld multimodal biometric capture devices to the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Gemalto said the acquired business had $202 million in sales in 2016 and about $53 million in operating profit. In addition to the biometric hardware and software, the business also provides secure materials and document readers. 3M’s identity business has about 450 employees.
Gemalto will combine the 3M business with its Government Programs business. Gemalto’s core capabilities are in authentication and protection. The company’s software is embedded in devise and objects to authenticate people and things. Other core capabilities include software for data protection, key management and secure issuance.