PARIS, FRANCE: HID Global, a subsidiary of the Swedish group Assa Abloy and a leader in identification systems and applications, has announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to buy Evolis, a French company that specializes in decentralized personalization of credit card format cards.

HID has agreed to buy Cedys & Co, which holds about 84.4% of Evolis shares, from its shareholders, and has also signed a conditional agreement to buy about 14% of Evolis shares from Crédit Mutuel Equity. The transaction would value Evolis at 228.4 million euros, or 43.75 euros per share, representing a premium of around 39% over Evolis’ average share price over the last month.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary conditions. After completion, HID would own about 98.5% of Evolis shares and would launch a mandatory tender offer to acquire the remaining shares.

The transaction would strengthen the product and solution offering of both companies, and extend their geographical coverage and ability to meet the needs of many additional markets. Evolis would be integrated into HID’s Secure Issuance Business division, which focuses on decentralized card personalization solutions.

Emmanuel Picot, CEO of Evolis, said: “This transaction with HID would give us access to new development opportunities, with greater added value for our customers by combining our expertise and know-how. It’s a major step forward for Evolis, and we are eager and enthusiastic to join the HID family.”

Björn Lidefelt, President and CEO of HID, said: “I look forward to welcoming Evolis to the HID family. Joining forces with a strong industrial player like Evolis would enable us to better meet our customers’ needs and offer us complementary growth opportunities in terms of products, geographical presence and markets.”

Craig Sandness, Senior Vice President and Director of Secure Issuance and Citizen Identification Solutions at HID, said: “Integrating Evolis into our Secure Issuance Business is in line with our desire to develop our expertise in the decentralized card personalization market. Thanks to Evolis’ knowledge of the market and the strong complementarity of our products, we look forward to enriching our offer to meet the needs of a growing number of customers in all business sectors and geographical areas.”

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