Cross Match has announced the acquisition of DigitalPersona and the appointment of Rich Agostinelli as CEO of the new combined company. The definitive merger agreement between Cross Match and DigitalPersona will see the two companies combined and remain headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. According to the companies, the new merger now makes them the largest independent provider of biometric identity management solutions.

“While the two companies will operate independently in the near-term, the complementary nature of their products, technologies, and global support organizations should make for a relatively quick and seamless integration.” Agostinelli said. “Cross Match and DigitalPersona are both leaders in biometric technologies with a strong brand presence in global markets, however there’s little overlap in our portfolios. There is a lot of natural synergy,” he said.

“As a result, we’ll be able to offer our customers a portfolio of solutions that’s unparalleled in our industry.” “It’s an exciting time to lead an organization like this,” Agostinelli said. “Biometrics is now widely accepted as a critical component of effective security systems for logical and physical access control, and is rapidly expanding from its roots in law enforcement, military and civil ID programs, to broader applications ranging from microfinance to mobile commerce to e-passports. This merger positions us perfectly to capitalize on these opportunities.”

Mike Kohlsdorf, operating partner for Francisco Partners, said the complementary technologies and geographic strengths of each company made the merger attractive for Cross Match.

“Cross Match is strong in multimodal biometric technologies and government solutions. DigitalPersona is strong in identity verification and the commercial sector, especially finance, retail and healthcare,” he said. “So, the fit is highly complementary.”

“The merger also broadens our global coverage, especially in Asia and Europe,” added Kohlsdorf, who served as interim CEO of Cross Match prior to the merger. “The combination holds a lot of promise for our customers. We will be able to bring them some highly differentiated offerings as we bring the organizations together.”[…]