3M will pay $10.50 per share for Cogent Inc. , the companies announced on August 30. The proposed transaction is valued at $943 million.
Cogent Inc., commonly referred to as Cogent Systems, provides finger, palm, face and iris biometric systems for governments, law enforcement agencies and commercial enterprises.
Cogent Systems is part of the $4 billion global biometric market, which is projected to grow at a rate greater than 20% per year. Its Automated Fingerprint/Palmprint Identification Systems enable customers to capture fingerprint and palm print images electronically, encode prints into searchable files, and accurately compare a set of fingerprints/palm prints to a database containing potentially millions of prints in seconds.
"Adding Cogent Systems' products to our business strengthens our product portfolio and services in high security credential issuance and authentication systems and positions 3M's business in law enforcement applications,"said Mike Delkoski, vice president and general manager, 3M Security Systems Division. "It also expands our reach into access control and other commercial ID and authentication applications."
Identification and authentication solutions from 3M include border management products; document manufacturing and issuance systems for IDs, passports, and visas; document readers and verification products; and security materials, such as laminates, to protect against counterfeiting and tampering.
