On Independence Day this year I said that UPEK "has now given up on" its efforts to merge with Authen Tec.
Authen Tec is Florida based, UPEK is a California company. They are both in the biometric identification market -- fingerprint recognition doodads and stuff.
But the merger will go forward. A friendly deal has been reached. This will be accomplished as an Authen Tec purchase of UPEK rather than, as once expected, the other way around.
The two firms have of late been adversaries in IP litigation. In May of this year, the Northern District for the District Court of California, in San Jose, issued this procedural ruling in that case. I haven't kept up with it since, but imagine that the new combined company won't continue suing itself.
Showing posts with label Authen Tec. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Authen Tec. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Upek Gives Up on Authen Tec
Happy independence day everybody.
It is appropriate to mention that Authen Tec seems to have won its own continued independence.
Authen Tec a company headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, though I understand it has a parent corporation in Shanghai, China. It creates "smart sensor" products. This appears to mean that it sells components to computer manufacturers that allow those products to use smooth touch pads, rather than such grosser doohickies as track balls, mouse buttons, or joysticks.
Upek, a privately held company headquartered in Emeryville, California, is one of its rivals, and has long sought a combination. Under the Upek plan proposed in Januray of this year, stockholders of each company would have ended up with 50% of the stock of the combined entity, and the new entity would have been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Upek had combined its merger proposal with a proxy solicitation campaign. But it has now given up on both.
The catalyst for this decision was the resignation of Robert E. Grady from the Authen Tec board. As near as I understand, Grady was their friend on the inside. Yet he is now gone.
"My decision results from my increasing discomfort with the Company's de facto embrace of the status quo, and tolerance of management leadership's actions to resist value-creating transactions," Grady said as he left.
Anyway, Upek, while applauding Grady, has given up its own efforts at soliciting proxies or otherwise inducing a merger.
Upek and Authen Tec have also engaged in patent litigation, which is virtually inevitable nowadays among two firms both working within such a highly technical field.
It is appropriate to mention that Authen Tec seems to have won its own continued independence.
Authen Tec a company headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, though I understand it has a parent corporation in Shanghai, China. It creates "smart sensor" products. This appears to mean that it sells components to computer manufacturers that allow those products to use smooth touch pads, rather than such grosser doohickies as track balls, mouse buttons, or joysticks.
Upek, a privately held company headquartered in Emeryville, California, is one of its rivals, and has long sought a combination. Under the Upek plan proposed in Januray of this year, stockholders of each company would have ended up with 50% of the stock of the combined entity, and the new entity would have been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Upek had combined its merger proposal with a proxy solicitation campaign. But it has now given up on both.
The catalyst for this decision was the resignation of Robert E. Grady from the Authen Tec board. As near as I understand, Grady was their friend on the inside. Yet he is now gone.
"My decision results from my increasing discomfort with the Company's de facto embrace of the status quo, and tolerance of management leadership's actions to resist value-creating transactions," Grady said as he left.
Anyway, Upek, while applauding Grady, has given up its own efforts at soliciting proxies or otherwise inducing a merger.
Upek and Authen Tec have also engaged in patent litigation, which is virtually inevitable nowadays among two firms both working within such a highly technical field.
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