ASSA ABLOY Intends to Acquire Evolis in France

ASSA ABLOY intends to, through its subsidiary HID Global SAS (HID), and subject to certain customary and regulatory conditions, purchase approximately 98.5 percent of the shares of EVOLIS S.A., a Euronext Growth company listed in Paris and a leading French manufacturer of ID card printers and consumables. 

HID has entered into (i) a put option agreement with the shareholders of Cedys & Co S.A.S. for all of the Cedys’ shares, noting that Cedys owns approximately 84.4 percent of the Evolis shares and voting rights (i.e. 4,407,707 shares) and (ii) a share purchase agreement for the sale by Crédit Mutuel Equity SCR and Crédit Mutuel Innovation of 14.0 percent of the shares (i.e. respectively 732,632 and 10 shares) to HID, which would result in a combined purchase price for the two transactions noted in (i) and (ii) above of approximately €224.9 million for 98.5 percent of the Evolis shares (i.e. 5,140,349 shares), which is equivalent to a purchase price per Evolis share of €43.75.

The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 36 percent over Evolis’ volume-weighted average share price on Euronext Growth Paris during the last 60 traded days up to and including July 17, 2023, of €32.30.

Evolis develops, manufactures, and sells printers and software for personalization of physical credentials. Through a well-established channel network Evolis has built a well-established global market position in the instant issuance of physical credentials including ID cards, access control badges, payment cards and other personalized credentials.

Evolis was established in 1999 and has some 380 employees. The company is headquartered in Angers, France. For 2022, Evolis’ sales amounted to €112 million with a strong EBIT margin

“I am looking forward to welcoming Evolis into the ASSA ABLOY Group. Evolis would be a good technological addition to the ASSA ABLOY Group and would reinforce our current offering within the secure issuance business,” said Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

“It would be a pleasure to welcome Evolis to the HID family” says Björn Lidefelt, EVP and head of Global Technologies business unit HID Global. “Joining forces with a strong industry player like Evolis would enable us to better meet our customers’ needs and provides complementary growth opportunities across product, geographical and vertical market presence”.

The acquisition is conditional upon customary closing conditions and regulatory approval and would be expected to close during the third quarter of 2023.