Apple Inc.said Friday it has agreed to pay $356 million cash for Melbourne-based AuthenTec Inc., a biometric-technology company that designs security sensors for mobile devices such as cellphones and laptops.
The deal would be the second-biggest acquisition on record for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple, and the tech giant's first known buyout in Florida, industry analysts said. In Central Florida, only about a half-dozen local firms have been acquired by Silicon Valley companies during the past two decades.
According to documents filed Friday with theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple would pay $8 a share to shareholders of publicly traded AuthenTec a 58 percent premium on the stock's opening price Friday. The deal must still be approved by AuthenTec's shareholders.
Authentec, with annual sales of $70 million, specializes in fingerprint sensors and other secure-access systems for laptop computers and wireless phones. Clients include Cisco, HP, Samsung, Nokia and other big wireless and computer companies. The business, spun off from Melbourne-basedHarris Corp. in 1998, went public in 2007.
AuthenTec announced on July 16 that Samsung has selected its security products for its next line of Android smartphones and tablets. Samsung and Apple are in a major court battle over patent rights related to Apple's iPhone, iPad and other wireless devices.
