Oberthur tosses wrench in smart-card merger

Oberthur tosses wrench in smart-card merger
Tags: Bank / Credit Union, Debit / Credit, EMV, Other, Regulatory Issues, Security
January 17, 2006

Bank Systems & Technology: Oberthur Card Systems (Paris) may challenge the proposed merger between its smart card rivals Axalto and Gemplus. The company may take its case to the French financial regulator Autorite des Marches Financiers to examine the implications of the merger for minority shareholders of the two firms. Gemplus (Luxembourg) agreed to merge with its competitor Axalto (Amsterdam) in December to create a firm called Gemalto - a company that would be the world's largest smart-card maker with a 40 percent share of the global market in digital security cards.