Thales and Gemalto get permission to acquire in the US

Thales and Gemalto have obtained approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to acquire Gemalto. The acquisition involves an amount of 4.8 billion euros. The two market leaders in security hardware will become one company after the acquisition.

Previously, the companies had already received permission from China, Israel, Turkey, Australia and Canada to take over the company. As a result, they have now obtained six of the fourteen permissions required. All of these are expected to be in by the end of 2018, according to the company in an announcement. The transaction will then be closed quickly.

European Commission

The two companies have not yet received authorisation from the European Commission, which is carrying out an in-depth investigation into the takeover. In the Commission’s view, the merger may lead to higher prices for hardware security modules, and the acquisition may harm the choice and innovation of such modules.

The investigation must show whether the proposed takeover does not lead to this. The Commission also wants to show to what extent the two companies are close competitors and what the potential reaction of consumers would be. The Commission shall take a decision by 29 November at the latest.

Thales and Gemalto say in the new statement that they are still working constructively with the authorities to obtain the remaining approvals.

Offer rejected

In December last year, Thales reached an agreement with Gemalto for the acquisition. Gemalto previously rejected an offer from Atos, which wanted to pay 4.3 billion for the company.

The intention is that Thales will combine its digital businesses with Gemalto. Gemalto continues to do business under its own brand.