Crane to Acquire OpSec

Crane NXT, whose subsidiaries include Crane Currency, Crane Authentication and Crane Payment Innovations, has announced it has signed a definitive agreement with Investcorp Technology Partners to acquire the optical technologies and brand protection specialist OpSec Security for $270 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments.

OpSec Security was formed through an acquisition by Applied Holographics plc of OpSec, both pioneers in holography, at the end of 1999. The new company operated in the ID, credit card, security print, brand protection and packaging markets, supplying major companies in the sports, software, clothing, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, motor, stationery, and other consumer products industries.

At one time it was also a supplier of the diffractive films used for thread in banknotes, including for Finland, Hong Kong and Bangladesh. But in recent years it has concentrated on the brand protection market, building on its optical and materials capability with a portfolio of scalable software platforms that enable the traceability of products, manage the licensing of brand properties, and detect and enforce against online brand use and content infringement.