BIO-key closes PistolStar acquisition and Idex Biometrics employees trade salary for stock

BIO-key has closed its acquisition of PistolStar to combine biometrics with large-scale on-premise multi-factor Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) identity and access management (IAM).

The acquisition is expected to immediately add to BIO-key’s revenue and operating income.

The initial $2.5 million deal with PistolStar was announced in June. The deal has been financed through $1.575 million in proceeds from the sale of a Senior Secured Convertible Note to Global Marco Fund LP. for $1.811 million. The note is convertible to BIO-key common stock at $1.16 per share and is secured by a first priority lien.

Millions of users at hundreds of organizations use PistolStar’s flagship product PistolGuard as an enterprise MFA and single sign-on (SSO) platform. The company’s technology delivers a flexible yet uniform MFA logon experience for cloud or workstation authentication, according to the announcement.

“The PistolStar acquisition is an exciting strategic initiative that expands BIO-key’s multi factor authentication capabilities beyond our core strength in biometrics so that we can offer a complete suite of Identity Access Management and Identity-as-a-Service solutions to a broader universe of enterprise customers,” states BIO-key CEO Michael DePasquale.

“The financing’s 12-month repayment schedule and above-market conversion price provided an attractive source of capital for our company, as we progress toward initial cash flows from our contracts in Africa and capitalize on our strong position to solve enterprise security vulnerabilities created by the rapid increase in work-from-home, resulting from the global coronavirus pandemic.”

“The combination of PistolStar and BIO-key creates a more comprehensive suite of multi factor solutions with a much larger addressable market and far greater opportunities for both companies,” says PistolStar Founder and President Tom Hoey. “Importantly, PortalGuard’s customized multi factor configuration capabilities, combined with the deep biometric expertise of BIO-key, will provide a very compelling solution to address diverse user populations and budgets.”

Idex offers employees stock instead of salary

The Board of Idex Biometrics has resolved to offer employees portions of their salary in shares instead of cash, issuing up to 4,318,523 shares instead of NOK 5.4 million (US$600,000). The program was participated in by 59 employees, with a 15 percent discount on share price for salary conversions.

Shares are subject to a six-month lockup period before becoming eligible to trade.

Primary insiders CFO Derek D’Antilio, CTO Anthony Eaton, SVP Sales & Marketing David Orme and EVP Advanced Technology and Strategy Stan Swearingen are among the 59 participating employees. Employees taking advantage of the offer are surely feeling optimistic about Idex Biometrics’ inclusion in multiple biometric payment card-manufacturing deals struck recently by Zwipe.

Following the share issuance, Idex has NOK 118,213,597.50 ($12.4 million) in share capital divided into 788,090,650 registered shares with a nominal value of NOK 0.15 each.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  BIO-key  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  IDaaS  |  identity access management (IAM)  |  Idex Biometrics  |  PistolStar  |  PortalGuard  |  stocks