EyeLock agrees to sell controlling interest to VOXX International

VOXX International Corporation announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of iris authentication market firm EyeLock for an undisclosed amount.

Under the terms of the agreement, VOXX will acquire EyeLock’s assets, including all intellectual property, to gain a controlling interest in the company.

The acquisition expands on VOXX’s existing supply chain and distribution relationship with EyeLock, VOXX will play a more dominating role in the distribution and sale of EyeLock’s suite of products with a greater focus on enterprise and access control business lines.

Previously reported, VOXX Electronics Corporation integrated EyeLock’s iris identity authentication technology into a 2015 Jeep Wrangler, which validates the driver and authorizes the vehicle to start.

Founded in 2006, EyeLock provides a portfolio of iris authentication solutions for global access control and logical access control environments, and currently has more than 70 patents and patents pending.

“In EyeLock, we believe they have the fastest, most secure and reliable biometric authentication solutions in the industry,” said Pat Lavelle, president and CEO of VOXX. “Their intellectual property continues to expand, with broad applications across vertical markets that address consumer and enterprise needs for authenticating identities and securing critical infrastructure.

“In this transaction, we not only increase our equity stake, we also expand our market reach and will work with the EyeLock team to bring their iris-authentication solutions to a larger global customer base. While we know it will take time, we are confident in the potential this investment will bring to our Company and our shareholders.”

The acquisition agreement has already been approved by EyeLock’s board of directors and shareholders. When completed, EyeLock’s financial results will be included in VOXX International’s Consumer Accessories segment.

As with VOXX’s previous acquisitions, EyeLock’s management team will remain in place and the company will retain the EyeLock name.

“VOXX has a strong reputation and deep relationships that will prove invaluable in helping EyeLock catapult to the next level,” said Jim Demitrieus, CEO of EyeLock. “The transaction provides EyeLock with the leverage and stability we need to accelerate and continue providing market leading solutions to the IoT and access control sectors. We look forward to working closely with VOXX to expand our global reach and licensee and partnership base.”

Article Topics

access management  |  acquisitions  |  biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  EyeLock  |  iris recognition  |  Voxx International