ASSA ABLOY announces agreement to acquire US company ActivIdentity Corporation

ASSA ABLOY has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ActivIdentity, a NASDAQ-listed company (ACTI) and a global leader in strong authentication and credential management.

ActivIdentity's market leadership in credential management systems, broad portfolio of complementary strong authentication products and Professional Services capabilities will complement ASSA ABLOY's HID Global Business Unit.

ActivIdentity is based in California and has offices in France, UK, Germany, Sweden, Australia and Japan, employs 223 people and had a turnover of USD 62 M for the fiscal year ended September 2009.

"This acquisition reinforces our strategic vision of being the world leader in secure identity and issuance. ActivIdentity provides complementary growth opportunities in a market which is rapidly converging," said Johan Molin, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

"ActivIdentity is an ideal fit with HID Global, finally enabling a unique solution to convergence between the logical and physical access domains via a single credential" said Denis Hébert, Executive Vice President ASSA ABLOY and Head of business unit HID Global.

The offered price amounts to approximately USD 162 M with an offered share price of USD 3.25 per share representing a premium of approximately 48 percent over ActivIdentity's average closing share price of USD 2.20 during the 20 trading days ending October 8, 2010. The board of directors for both companies have approved the transaction, which is expected to close in December 2010.

Initially, the acquisition will be slightly dilutive to earnings per share.

The acquisition will be subject to regulatory clearances and the approval by owners of a majority of the outstanding shares of ActivIdentity.

For more information, please contact:
Johan Molin, President and CEO, tel no: +46 8 506 485 42
Tomas Eliasson, CFO and Executive Vice President, tel no: +46 8 506 485 72