Axalto Holding, the second largest smart card provider, has agreed to buy its rival Gemplus Int’l in a $928 million deal. Shareowners of Gemplus will hold 55.4 percent of the new company, which will be called Gemalto. While both smart card companies mainly dominate the European market, both have market share in the North American market as well.
Gemplus CEO Alex Mandl, will become executive chairman of Gemalto and Axalto CEO Olivier Piou, will serve as CEO of the new company.
The firm is expected to have sales of about $1.8 billion this year with 11,000 employees worldwide. The card makers said they expect cost cuts to lift operating profit by $85 million after three years.
