By completing the acquisition of American Banknote Corporation's French and Czech subsidiaries last December, Morpho is now playing in the same league as its major competitors in the bank card manufacturing and personalization domain.
By completing the acquisition of American Banknote Corporation's French and Czech subsidiaries last December, Morpho is now playing in the same league as its major competitors in the bank card manufacturing and personalization domain.
“It was vital for us to reinforce our payment card personalization centers network,” analyzed Franck Herault, Senior VP Supply Chain & Manufacturing, Morpho. “Our objective with this acquisition is clear: we aim to secure our strong position in the French market, and also be in a position to compete in the EMEA marketplace.” The objective has been achieved with the acquisition of CPS Technologies, American Banknote Corporation's French subsidiary, Morpho now has the stature required to credibly address the biggest banks in France. Morpho will also offer them new products and a new range of services integrating additional features. Meanwhile, with the acquisition of ABnote Czech, Morpho will benefit from the 12% growth per year in the banking market in Eastern Europe.
“Our customers are strongly pushing us to have an active back-up like our main competitors. It is a key point for them to select the right partner,” emphasized Herault. “The acquisition of ABnote Europe is definitively a key milestone in our industrial strategy to move from ‘industrial centers' to ‘service centers'.”
Long-standing partnership
If this acquisition is an eminently strategic move, it also makes sense on a human level. “Morpho has very strong ties with these two companies because our partnership actually stretches back to 1998,” explained Philippe Delanoue, former CEO of ABnote Europe and currently Senior VP, France Banking, Morpho. A complementary relationship was forged by working on both sides of the plastic cards supply chain: Morpho manufactured the cards and CPS Technologies personalized them. Moreover, the CPS Technologies site had become the biggest and most state-of-the-art personalization bureau in Europe, a true asset for the two partners.
“During all these years our teams have learned how to better understand their common market and how to provide appropriate solutions. This period also allowed our management teams to stretch strong links based on fair trust,” Delanoue continued. “In view of our backgrounds and the changes in the market, the timing was right to strike this deal to enable Morpho to ride this new wave of growth in the banking sector. It is obvious that the perfect match of the skills and knowledge that we now have in common will bring a new dynamic that will benefit to our customers. We are now ready to support them to build a smart future.”