nCipher acquisition completed by Entrust Datacard
Entrust Datacard has completed its acquisition of nCipher Security from Thales.
nCipher has more than 300 employees, including 160 at a cybersecurity development centre at One Station Square in Cambridge.
Its sale was required as part of Thales’ commitment to competition authorities - including the European Union and US Department of Justice - as it completed its 4.8billion euro acquisition of Dutch security firm Gemalto.
Entrust Datacard, a leading provider of trusted identity and secure issuance technology solutions, said the acquisition of nCipher extended its offer to customers.
nCipher is a market leading general purpose hardware security module business. HSMs provide the highest level of cryptographic security and are in increasing demand thanks to privacy regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the electronic identification, authentication and trust services (eIDAS) regulation.
They can be used to minimise security risks from cloud services, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other digital initiatives.
Todd Wilkinson, president and CEO of Entrust Datacard, said: “We are extremely pleased to complete this acquisition and bring nCipher’s exceptional talent and technology into the Entrust Datacard portfolio. The need for secure network access and data integrity continues to multiply – from mobile devices and cloud services to connected IoT devices and digital payments. The use of HSMs is expanding across all of these domains.
“With nCipher now part of our solution portfolio, customers will see benefit from our expanded offerings for the most sensitive, high assurance use cases.”
Entrust Datacard will offer the nCipher solution with its on-premise and managed public key infrastructure (PKI) offerings, and its IoT device credentialing, authorisation and lifecycle management products.
nCipher will now be able to expand its compliance capabilities from trusted hardware to include trusted identities, while grow its cloud capabilities with Entrust Datacard’s secure hosting facilities.
Cindy Provin, CEO of nCipher Security, said: “nCipher is excited to join the talented Entrust Datacard team. This acquisition quickly expands the global footprint for nCipher solutions and accelerates our strategy for ‘as-a-service’ offerings.
“HSMs provide a foundation of trust for business applications such as PKI, blockchain, mobile payments and code signing. As a single company, Entrust Datacard is positioned to effectively secure our customers’ sensitive information and business critical applications as they implement new digital initiatives.”
Entrust Datacard offers solutions for financial cards, passports and ID cards, along with digital authentication, certificates and secure communications. It has more than 2,200 employees in 34 locations worldwide, and customers in 150 countries. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, its annual revenues exceed €500m, while nCipher recorded more than €100m in revenues in 2018
nCipher also has a base in Sunrise, Florida, and a sales support center in Hong Kong, which will also be retained along with the Cambridge centre. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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