Card Briefs: Card Firms Deep-Six Joint Venture Plan

Kirk Plastic Co. and the German smart card manufacturer Orga Card Systems have scrapped plans for a joint venture.

The two companies announced an agreement in principle in July 1995, but they were unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion, Kirk Plastic said.

Kirk, the second-largest U.S. plastic card manufacturer, said it will continue to pursue opportunities in the smart card industry with other strategic partners. A company spokeswoman said there are fewer than five candidates, both foreign and domestic.

In the past year and a half, other American card manufacturers have been snapped up by foreign smart card firms. For example, Schlumberger of France purchased Malco Plastics, the No. 1 U.S. payment card producer, and Gemplus Group of France took over DataCard Corp.'s manufacturing operations.

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