Smart card developer Mondex International is about to get gobbled by MasterCard International. During the next few weeks MasterCard, which already owns 51 percent of the London-based firm, is expected to buy shares from the other owners until it gains total ownership of the company.
The deal is likely to be a cheap one too, insiders say. MasterCard is expected to pay only a token amount of money for the acquisition, since Mondex has little market value, Card Technology reported. Officials at Mondex were unable to find new capital sources to help the struggling company, making it a good-looking potential acquisition for technology-hungry companies.
The chief attraction for MasterCard is Mondex's Multos smart card technology system, which could eventually be sold or spun off as a separate company.
MasterCard reportedly will let go about half of Mondex' 150 employees while fulfilling its advertising and marketing needs in house.
Last year, the Norwegian Lottery, Norsk Tipping, chose Mondex electronic cash payment system for its Internet lottery ticket sales. The card used for the Norwegian lottery would incorporate the Multos smart-card chip, Mondex electronic cash, Posten SDS electronic identification and a player application for Norsk Tipping's various games.