Defense Department Orders Viisage Printers
By Anitha Reddy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 5, 2004; Page E04
The Defense Department agreed to buy 1,700 printers from Viisage Technology Inc. to print up to 10 million employee identification cards that could eventually store a range of biometric information, from fingerprints to retinal scans.
Bernard C. Bailey, president and chief executive of the Littleton, Mass., company, said a major reason for the award was Viisage's acquisition in February of Trans Digital Technologies Corp., an Arlington company with printers that are used by the State Department to produce passports.
That kind of experience helps when executives are trying to convince government officials that their printers are up to the task of producing documents with high-security requirements, Bailey said. The contract would be worth $6 million to $10 million once cards and ink are ordered, he said.
"This just further validates the value of that acquisition," Bailey said.
Viisage paid $49 million in stock and cash for Trans Digital, which has 30 employees.
Shares of Viisage jumped 22 percent on Friday, to $9.36, on the news. Last year, Viisage lost $17.7 million (26 cents per share) and had revenue of $37.4 million.
The cards are part of the Common Access Card Program, and 4 million are already in use at the Defense Department. Winning the Defense Department card contract might give Viisage an edge when it goes after other identification card jobs, Bailey said. One closely watched identification card program is the Homeland Security Department's plans to issue cards to all transportation workers, such as airline crew members and truck drivers. The department has not awarded any contracts for printers for those cards, Bailey said, adding that 20 million to 30 million cards eventually could be issued under the program.
Viisage's acquisition of Trans Digital and its work for the Defense Department reflect a push to expand beyond its two major business areas, facial recognition technology and driver's license production. The company printed 25 million driver's licenses last year, Bailey said, including licenses for the state of Maryland.
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