Biometrics investment surge continues with FPC’s $33M bond issue, planned TeleSign IPO

Fingerprint Cards has raised SEK 300 million (US$33.2 million) in a senior secure bond issue to invest in working capital and research and development as its biometric access control and payment businesses grow, and for general working capital.

The bond issue was announced by FPC last week. Now the company has revealed that the bonds are issued with a three-year term and a floating interest rate based on Stibor over three months, plus 9 percent per annum. The framework for the issue amounts to SEK 500 million ($54.9 million), according to the announcement, and the company plans to apply for the bonds to be admitted to trading on the Nasdaq Stockholm’s corporate bond list.

“We are experiencing an increase in demand for our products and solutions in all our business areas, and our revenue streams are being diversified at a higher pace than previously, into areas with attractive margins,” comments Christian Fredrikson, CEO of Fingerprint Cards. “Fingerprints has ambitious growth plans, which increases the need for working capital and investments in R&D. I am therefore very pleased that we have now secured funding to further accelerate Fingerprints’ growth.”

FPC says the bond issue was well-received by both institutional investors both in the Nordics and Europe.

SenseTime IPO to launch on Monday, or not

The on-again off-again SenseTime IPO appears determined to stay in character right to the finish, with a possible launch on Monday.

The necessary paperwork, a revised risk disclosure, has been filed, according to the South China Morning Post, which must be approved by the Hong Kong exchange.

Sources told SCMP that the banks and sponsors behind the stock launch are hard at work to clear the final hurdles for what is still expected to be one of the year’s largest biometrics IPOs.

The date is not definite, and CNBC says its sources anticipate possible changes to the size of the launch, as well.

TeleSign to go public through SPAC

Publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) North Atlantic Acquisition Corporation (NAAC) and digital identity provider TeleSign have entered an agreement to combine their businesses and bring the latter to the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The combined entity intends to go public at a $1.3 billion valuation, according to the announcement, and TeleSign plans to bring in a total of $487 million, including $380 million in trust from NAAC and $107.5 million in Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) financing.

TeleSign says it is a partner to eight of the world’s ten largest digital enterprises with its security, digital identity authentication, fraud detection, compliance and reputation scoring technologies. The company intends to use the funds to reinforce its position as a digital identity provider, targeting mid-market and SMB customers among new segments.

The company launched a continuous behavioral biometrics offering in 2016.

Since 2018, TeleSign says it has achieved an organic 42 percent CAGR, with anticipated revenues of $391 million in 2021.

Article Topics

behavioral biometrics  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  fingerprint sensors  |  investment  |  SenseTime  |  stocks  |  TeleSign