Oberthur Buys Into Micro-Optics

Francois Charles Oberthur (Oberthur) has acquired a 65.5% stake in Rolling Optics, a Swedish developer of micro-optics technology, for a sum believed to be in the region of $15-20 million.

Rolling Optics was founded in 2005. It had sales of SEK 28.35 million ($2.5 million) in 2021 (its last reported financial year), resulting in a loss of SEK 12.76 million ($1 million).

The company offers what it terms an Integral Imaging technique based on micro-lens patterns for creating 3D effects in film. Its technology was behind the launch of Portals’ MOTUS thread, a rival to Crane Currency’s MOTION, last year (see CN May 2022).

It is also behind CCL Secure’s CINEMA™ feature for windows in polymer, which made its debut in the Lebanese commemorative 100,000 livres in late 2020 (see CN December 2020) and also appears in the newly-issued commemorative 20 zloty ‘Copernicus’ note issued by the National Bank of Poland. Rolling Optics and CCL Secure have had a technical partnership since 2015.