Thales, Gemalto Clear Another Hurdle in Merger Bid

Thales and Gemalto have cleared another major hurdle as they race toward their desired merger: Thales’ acquisition of Gemalto has now been cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The news comes soon after Thales’ and Gemalto’s announcement that they had received approval for the merger from investment regulators in Canada. They have also received antitrust clearances from China, Israel, and Turkey; all told, they have received six of the 14 regulatory clearances needed from authorities around the world in order for the merger to happen.

Thales had previously set a deadline for its acquisition offer for August 15th, but extended it after the European Commission launched an antitrust investigation into the merger this summer. Both Thales and Gemalto are providers of hardware security modules, together representing a substantial chunk of the European market.

The revised and presumably final deadline for Gemalto’s acceptance of Thales’ acquisition offer, which hinges on obtaining the needed regulatory clearances, is March 31st, 2019. But the companies say that they expect to finish the transaction before the end of this year.