Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, today announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire 3M's Identity Management Business for US$850 million. 3M's Identity Management Business is comprised of 3M Cogent Inc., which provides a full spectrum of biometric solutions with a focus in civil identification, border control and law enforcement, and 3M's Document Reader and Secure Materials Businesses.

Headquartered in the United States and present on 3 continents, 3M's Identity Management Business is a trusted partner to governments, law enforcement, border control and civil identification bodies worldwide. It offers world-class biometric based end-to-end solutions enabling identity verification and user-friendly authentication. 3M's Identity Management experienced and highly-skilled team of approximately 450 experts has developed proven biometrics algorithms (finger, face, iris, etc.) and is at the forefront of innovation with the latest multi-modal biometric solutions. Annual revenue of the business is approximately US$215M and profit from operations at US$58M[1].

As Gemalto pursues its expansion and prepares for the future, this acquisition both completes Gemalto Government Programs offer by in-sourcing biometric technology and ideally positions the Company to provide solutions for the promising commercial biometrics market. Our combined offers and experience in the Public sector to manage the enrolment, identification of individuals, flow of passengers and border control should contribute to stronger national security. On the commercial side, as online and mobile transactions grow, new forms of multi-factor authentication and identification are needed to complement physical ID documents. Combining market access and technologies from 3M's Identity Management Business and Gemalto will allow trusted national identities and strong biometric authentication to develop throughout the digital economy.

Once the acquisition is completed, 3M's Identity Management Business will become part of Gemalto Government Programs business which recorded a revenue of €391 million in 2015.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2017, after approval from the relevant regulatory and anti-trust authorities and employee consultation where required. After the acquisition is completed, Gemalto will retain a strong financial structure with a net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio below 1.5. The transaction will be accretive to adjusted Earnings Per Share. As part of our long term strategy and the development of this core technology across our businesses, the acquired business revenue is expected to grow at +10% CAGR with EBITDA margins above 20% by 2020.

"Gemalto is delighted to welcome new members to its international team. 3M's Identity Management Business and Gemalto perfectly fit, solving authentication and identity management pain points across our customer segments, creating immediate increased differentiation and offering additional long term growth perspectives", said Philippe Vallée, Gemalto CEO.

 [1] Source: Proforma carve-out unaudited financials based on due diligence – 12 months ending June 2016