by Julien Ponthus and Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) – Advent International is seeking to sell IDEMIA, its French subsidiary specializing in digital security, for up to $4.6 billion (about 4 billion euros), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. .
The US investment fund is considering several options for IDEMIA, including a spin-off from the company born in 2016 from the combination of the identification and security businesses of Safran and Oberthur Technologies, the sources said.
This announcement comes in the context of strengthening data protection measures around the world due in particular to an increased threat of cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a study published by Embrokele, cybercrime around the world jumped 600% during the pandemic, while at the same time hackers are improving their technique and developing new malware to infiltrate digital systems in a context of transition to telework.
IDEMIA, which also has Bpifrance as a shareholder, provides facial recognition systems and other biometric identification products as well as identification tools for border control. The group works closely with government agencies to verify the identity of travelers and combat illegal immigration.
According to the sources, Thales is among the candidates interested in a takeover of IDEMIA, valued between three and four billion euros.
Thales said on Wednesday it was “potentially interested” in any cybersecurity assets that would be available for sale.
Private equity firms are also likely to be interested in IDEMIA, but no deals or contacts are expected to take place before France’s presidential election scheduled for April, the sources said.
Asked, Thales and Advent declined to comment.
(Report Julien Ponthus and Pamela Barbaglia; French version Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet)
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