Safran To Acquire L-1 Identity Solutions For $1.09 Billion


Safran announced recently that it has entered into a definitive agreement with L-1 Identity Solutions, a identity management provider in the United States, for Safran to acquire the operating and holding company of L-1 and its biometric and enterprise access solutions, secure credentialing solutions and enrollment services businesses, for a total cash amount of $1.09 billion.

These businesses had 2009 revenue of  $436 million and recorded a backlog of $1.1 billion at end of 2009. The transaction would create an provider of solutions for the fast-growing high-tech homeland security market and generate strong growth in revenue and earnings, while yielding significant operating synergies.

Prior to this agreement and as a condition to the transaction, L-1 entered into a definitive agreement to sell its government consulting services business for $295 million to a third party, and therefore this business would be excluded from the transaction with Safran.

Following the closing, Safran intends to operate L-1 as part of its existing security business, Morpho, in accordance with U.S. national security regulation, to create a provider of solutions for high tech homeland security.

Jean-Paul Herteman, CEO of Safran, said: "I have a deep respect for L-1's business and its contribution to the security industry. We are all highly impressed with the quality and expertise of L-1's teams throughout the United States and we are looking forward to working with them to bring L-1 and Morpho together.

“This will allow us to grow L-1's business, while expanding the reach of L-1's services to other key territories around the world. With this acquisition, Safran's pro forma 2011 revenues from its security business, focused on detection, biometrics and identity management is likely to exceed 15 percent of the Safran's global revenue. The expected organic growth of these activities should enable the group to reach its 20 percent revenue target for its security business swiftly. Furthermore, this constitutes a significant step in the implementation of Safran's clearly defined strategy to be a leader in the field of mission critical high tech tier one players in the group's three businesses: Aerospace, Defense and Security."

"I am extremely proud of L-1's accomplishments and the role we have played in the development of multi-modal biometric technologies and in helping establish the identity management market over the last four years," said Robert V. LaPenta, chairman, president and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions. "Safran will provide a strong global reach and a more comprehensive portfolio of solutions and services in order to leverage the industry's best set of collective experience and solutions, all to the benefit of our customers and partners worldwide. Safran's commitment to furthering the standards of quality and excellence in engineering innovation will ensure that we can continue to lead the market in developing superior identity management solutions."

Featured

  • CISA Kicks Off 20th Anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month

    CISA Kicks Off 20th Anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month

    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently announced the kickoff of the 20th Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Throughout October, CISA and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) will focus on ways to “Secure Our World” by educating the public on how to stay safe online. Read Now

  • Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Top Five Action Items to Elevate Your Data Security Posture Management and Secure Your Data

    October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and every year most tips for security hygiene and staying safe have not changed. We’ve seen them all – use strong passwords, deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA), be vigilant to spot phishing attacks, regularly update software and patch your systems. These are great recommended ongoing tips and are as relevant today as they’ve ever been. But times have changed and these best practices can no longer be the bare minimum. Read Now

  • Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    In alignment with the state of Mississippi’s mission of “Empowering Mississippi citizens to stay connected and engaged with their government,” Salient's CompleteView VMS is being installed throughout more than 150 state boards, commissions and agencies in order to ensure safety for thousands of constituents who access state services daily. Read Now

  • Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    This year’s Live From GSX program was a rousing success! Again, we’d like to thank our partners, and IPVideo, for working with us and letting us broadcast their solutions to the industry. You can follow our Live From GSX 2023 page to keep up with post-show developments and announcements. And if you’re interested in working with us in 2024, please don’t hesitate to ask about our Live From programs for ISC West in March or next year’s GSX. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

Featured Cybersecurity

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area. 3

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3