FPC Says Beijing Firm’s Takeover Bid Unlikely

A Beijing firm has approached Fingerprint Cards about a possible takeover, but FPC says such a deal is unlikely.

The suitor, Beijing Watertek, reportedly sent a letter to FPC’s head management this week outlining plans for the potential acquisition, with a source close to the Chinese firm leaking the information to Sweden’s Dagens Industri publication. In response, Fingerprint Cards downplayed the development, asserting in a statement that “the probability for the offer plans being realized is low”. FPC added that it only issued an official comment on the speculation to comply with stock exchange disclosure regulations.

FPC did not elaborate on why such a takeover bid was unlikely to succeed.

Beijing Watertek’s interest in FPC comes at a time of intensive change. While FPC is a leading supplier of fingerprint sensor technology to the mobile market, intensifying competition in this sector has depressed the company’s margins. At the same time, FPC has taken purposeful strides into the emerging biometric smart card market, which is expected to see strong growth in the near future. Yet these markets would seem to be somewhat outside of Beijing Watertek’s purview, with the firm specializing in embedded technologies for the military and defense sectors, according to a Bloomberg profile.

Sources: Reuters, Nasdaq, Fingerprint Cards, Bloomberg