Identification technology provider Viisage Technology has said it agreed to buy Iridian Technologies, a privately held iris recognition technology company, for $35 million in cash.
Upon completion of the Iridian deal and the pending merger with Identix, Viisage expects to become the only United States-based manufacturer of a full range of biometric-recognition technology, encompassing iris, finger and face, the company said in a statement.
The Iridian deal was expected to close in August. Iridian is expected to be debt-free at the time of the close of the deal and generate pro forma earnings of about $3 million in 2006, Viisage added.
Iridian's intellectual-property portfolio and iris recognition algorithm will be combined with Viisage's wholly owned subsidiary, SecuriMetrics, the company said.
Viisage said the acquisition of Iridian would be funded primarily by proceeds from the initial $100 million investment by venture capital firm L-1 Investment Partners in December 2005.
Viisage also said it secured a $6,5 million reduction in potential contingency payments to SecuriMetrics under the terms of its February acquisition of that company.
Shares of the company fell over a percent to $15,33 in early trading on the Nasdaq.
Source: Reuters. Published on ZDNet News ( http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6094830.html?tag=sas.email)
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