Private equity firm Advent International has confirmed it has agreed to acquire Oberthur’s Card Systems and Identity divisions in a deal valued at 1.15bn euros.

Under the terms of the deal, which is still subject to market approval and workers’ council consultation, Jean-Pierre Savare, founder of the group, and his family will retain a minority stake of about 10% in the company.

Pascal Stefani, head of Advent International in France, says: “The Savare family has an outstanding track-record in this industry which we intend to build on. We look forward to participating in the development of a world-leading French technology business across all segments: payment, telecommunications, and identity.”

Cédric Chateau, managing director with Advent International says: “Advent benefits both from a leading international network across many regions, including Latin America, and extensive breadth of expertise in the banking and telecommunications industries via its investments in the electronic payments sector, including RBS WorldPay in the UK, Fifth Third in the United States and Cetip in Brazil.”

Jean-Pierre Savare, President of Oberthur Group said: “Advent International’s expertise in technology, in particular in electronic payment, is proven. I am very confident in its ability to support the strategic growth of the Card and Identity activities. This project would be the next exciting phase in the history of our group, which would concentrate on its fiduciary activities.”

According to Advent, three principal avenues for growth will support the development of the company in the coming years:

"In the Identity Division, the company is already a well established leader in secured documents with multiple uses (citizenship, healthcare, licences, conditional access) and has strong growth potential.

"The electronic payment sector benefits from growth in volume driven by emerging markets, as well as new developments in mature markets.

"In telecommunications, the company presents an innovative and attractive offer which should benefit from the strong development of Near Field Communication (NFC)."

Advent says it will also support the company’s growth through potential external acquisitions that may further enhance the technological development and growth of the company.

Oberthur’s Identity Division is a world leader in the manufacturing of secure identity documents, such as passports, identity cards, driving licenses and healthcare cards, and associated services for both governmental and corporate markets.

Its Card Systems Division specialises in security based on smart card technology, and is the world’s second largest provider of security and identification solutions and services for mobile, payment, transport, digital TV, and convergence markets. Clients include mobile operators, financial institutions, transport operators and conditional access system providers.