Defence group buys U.K. encryption specialist

The Paris, France headquartered defense group said the acquisition is in line with its strategy of expanding its presence in the sector of information and communication systems security.

"The board of nCipher believes that this offer recognizes the inherent value of our technology, services and staff, as well as delivering significant value to shareholders," said nCipher chairman Robert Jeens.

"nCipher and Thales are two highly synergistic businesses with minimal operational overlap, and we believe that together we will be able to provide both independent and joint customers with a more effective and attractive way to deal with their ongoing security issues," he added.

The company said nCipher will complement its encryption products portfolio by adding a hardware security module product range, a provisioning product for key management and a product to secure data stored on tape from loss, theft or compromise.

Thales will offer 300p per share, which is a 138 percent premium to the closing price of nCipher on 10 April, the last business day prior to the group admitting that it had received a number of approaches.

Over the past few days, the company's share price has been rising rapidly, and the offer represents a premium of approximately 15 percent to nCipher's closing price of 260 pence on 10 July on the London exchange.

nCiphers hardware and software products provide solutions in the fields of internet and enterprise data protection and key management. Headquartered in Cambridge with major operations in the US, the company had revenues of £24.2m in 2007 and over 180 staff.

Source: EET