Baltimore Technologies, the e-commerce security company in merger discussions with Zergo Holdings, a British company, has announced a partnership with Datakey, a US-based supplier of cryptographic information security solutions on smart cards.
Zergo's chief executive, Prof Henry Beker, said yesterday that the merger discussions would be structured as a takeover of the Irish company by Zergo.
"We are not looking at them acquiring us. It is us acquiring them," he said.
He said it was part of the corporate plan of Zergo, which floated on the main London market last July, to grow organically and by acquisition.
"There is going to be a lot of consolidation in our industry sector and we see ourselves as one of the leaders in that sector," he said.
Apart from the need for capital in the sector, clients tended to be major organisations such as multinationals, banks, and governments, who expected data security companies to have "a critical mass".
Meanwhile, Baltimore's partnership with Datakey will enable the two companies' products to provide a more secure security solution for electronic commerce and remote access applications, providing double authentication.
Baltimore is a private company, in which the financier Mr Dermot Desmond has a majority stake. Datakey, a Nasdaq-quoted company, has a turnover of $5.7 million (£3.8 million). Its security solutions deliver a certificate-based smart card solution for end-user authentication. Mr Paddy Holahan, Baltimore's vice-president of business development, said the alliance would enable an enhanced product to be marketed in the US.
