Smart Bits: Publicard Closes Deal for Calif.'s Greystone

Publicard Inc. said it has completed its acquisition of Greystone Peripherals Inc., which develops hard-disk duplicators, flash-film readers for digital cameras, and PCMCIA insert cards for personal computers.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Publicard adds Greystone, a seven-year-old company in Los Gatos, Calif., to a string of acquisitions through which it seeks to become "a significant player in the U.S. smart card industry," said president and chief executive officer James J. Weis. He said the company would do "additional compatible acquisitions that will further round out our smart card capabilities."

Publicard also recently completed its acquisition of Amazing Smart Card Technologies Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif., developer of a system for personalized Internet access. In 1998, Publicard bought card-reader vendors Tritheim Technologies and Greenwald Industries and hired former MasterCard International chip card executive Richard Phillimore as executive vice president, smart card businesses.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER