Local security company buys Swiss tech firm

September 21st, 2009, 4:00 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

SCM Microsystems Inc., whose U.S. headquarters are in Santa Ana, is acquiring Bluehill ID in Switzerland in a stock-only deal.

The company wouldn’t set a value on the deal, in which Bluehill shareholders will receive 0.52 shares of SCM stock for every Bluehill share. As of this writing SCM stock is trading at $2.50.

If SCM succeeds in getting all Bluehill shares, current SCM shareholders will own 60% of the combined company.

SCM, headquartered in Germany, recently acquired Hirsch Electronics of Santa Ana. That combination has 100 employees in Orange County.

But the two transactions have different impact, said spokeswoman Darby Dye.

Hirsch and SCM both focus on security access control for buildings and computers using smart cards. Bluehill works on radio frequency identification technology.

Europe and Asia are further along in combining these technologies, Dye said. An example of how it could work is an individual ordering tickets to a program over a smart phone, which contains secure and encrypted credit card information. Rather than having to enter the credit card information on the phone, the user would just push the “pay” button.

In the future, the smart phone will also be an individual’s access badge into secure buildings, Dye added.

“There’s no standardization in the market right now,” she said.

“In a highly fragmented, technology driven growth industry, Bluehill ID’s technology, market reach and brands coupled with the strength of our combined management team and industry vision will immensely accelerate our strategic plans,” said SCM CEO Felix Marx.

Click here to read the SCM press release.

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