Oberthur Technologies Group, the world's second-largest smartcard manufacturer after Gemalto, has applied for a listing on Euronext Paris.
Advent-owned Oberthur recently rebuffed offers from private equity firms Carlyle Group and Eurazeo that valued the firm at €2 billion. Advent, which recently took Worldpay public in London, expects that Oberthur will command the largest technology IPO in Europe this year.
With over 6000 employees representing 60 nationalities, Oberthur generated €532.6 million in consolidated revenue and €80.9 million in consolidated Ebitda in the first half of 2015. Financial services forms the bedrock of the company's business as the generator of over half of OT’s revenue in 2014 from a global customer base of 1200 bank.
Oberthur is coming to the market at an opportune time, with a recent spate of data breaches, a mass-migration to EMV cards, and positive sentiment about the potential for IoT connected devices all playing to its strengths in the development of secure chip and payment cards.
Didier Lamouche, CEO of OT says: "In a context of strong growth, where our digital security solutions are used by a growing number of clients, whether paying, connecting, or authenticating, we also need to prepare ourselves to respond to the massive needs of providing security for the world of connected objects. Our IPO will help OT consolidate its positions in each of its segments and reinforce its growth.”