APAC consolidation in biometrics: Totm picks up International Biometrics

The majority owner of software maker International Biometrics Indonesia is being purchased by Totm Technologies in Singapore. A contract for $46 million, or 14 cents per share, has been signed, though the deal could still unravel.

Totm, which bills itself as an end-to-end ID management firm, is buying the 49 percent of International Biometrics it does not already own in an all-shares deal valued at S$65.9 million. To date, International Biometrics has focused primarily on government buyers.

Technically, Totm is buying the rest of InterBIO, a Singapore holding company that holds 99 percent of International Biometrics. The biometrics firm will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Totm, which purchased 51 percent of InterBIO in a deal that closed in April, 2021, shortly before Totm changed its name from Yinda Infocomm.

InterBio had a net after-tax profit of 12 billion Indonesian rupiahs, or $777,000, for the fiscal year ended December 31, according to Totm. It had net assets of IDR80 billion, or $518,000, and it licenses the underlying technologies of its ID management products from others.

Totm has said that combined, the new company will be more diversified and better control costs, a strategic goal.

“This move stems from efforts to control cost and restructure the business … away from the provision of telecommunications solutions and services in Singapore and Thailand which were affected by Covid,” according to a rationale in Totm government filings.

Executives also have said the deal will help them capture more mid-sized to large projects. Its products are chiefly focused on public safety, digital, travel, border management, health care and financial services.

In January Tech5, which Totm has a significant stake in, became a supplier to Ethiopia as that country develops a national digital ID.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  APAC  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  InterBio  |  Totm Technologies