Gemalto buys Keycorp’s MULTOS business for $22 million
Gemalto confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Keycorp’s smart card business, the provider of MULTOS products and services to the financial services and government sectors, and of Multos Ltd., the company that operates the remote activation service and high-security facility that is at the center of the MULTOS security architecture.
Gemalto paid $22 million for Keycorp’s smart card business assets, IP portfolio, trademarks and Multos Ltd. The assets acquired include Keycorp’s deployment of the highly secure MULTOS smart card operating system, the MULTOS brand, the associated patents and the Key Management Authority that manages MULTOS card activations worldwide.
Approximately 40 MULTOS experts will join Gemalto, mostly based in Australia and UK. The acquisition will contribute more than $22 million of annual revenues to the secure transactions and government programs segments of Gemalto on an annual basis, with more than half of the revenues coming from Asia.
MULTOS was previously owned by MasterCard Worldwide through Mondex, and is promoted by the Maosco consortium, which includes Infineon, Samsung, Dai Nippon Printing and Thales in its membership. MULTOS was the first smart card operating system to receive the highest security certification possible, ITSEC E6 High/EAL6+. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
