OpSec Buys Zacco, Goes Public

Brand protection specialist OpSec Security has acquired Zacco, an intellectual property (IP) management and protection company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark and has announced that it is going for a public listing later this year.

Zacco can trace its activities in international patents back to 1870. In 2001, three companies merged – Hofman-Bang in Denmark, Stockholms Patentbyrå in Sweden and Bryns Patentkontor in Norway – to form the present-day company, which took on the name Zacco after one of its founders. In 2009, it then merged with Alibhsn.

Zacco has approximately 500 employees, including a large number of patent, trademark and design attorneys, as well as attorneys at law and paralegals, IT specialists and software developers. Its services range from filing patent applications, trademark registration and design protection to software development, digital brand protection, cyber security and full IP portfolio management.

According to the company, it has pioneered an approach to IP optimisation that unites traditional legal expertise with digital brand management and security. For clients, this means that all aspects of brand ideas, assets, and identity are managed and protected through what it terms its IP 360 service.

OpSec has evolved from its origins in physical product authentication, principally holograms, to the protection of brand identity, reputation, and content online. The addition of Zacco will, it says, extend the value that it offers to its extensive customer base of leading brands, with the ability to register and maintain patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, as well as digital brand assets such as domain names.

According to Mats Boström, Chief Executive Officer of Zacco, both businesses bring their own experiences of protecting brands and their IP rights across a range of environments, in particular digital. 'But what is interesting about Zacco and OpSec,' he said, 'is that we also have a real affinity with product brands. For us it is about the patents and industrial designs, while for OpSec it is about their on-product enhancement and protection, as well as transparency and control in supply chains.'

'Together, we are starting to shape a practical vision of what a full lifecycle IP and brand solution could offer,' commented Dr Selva Selvaratnam, CEO of OpSec Security. 'This is an exciting opportunity to combine capabilities and make a real difference for our customers.

OpSec to go public

In a subsequent announcement, OpSec has said that it will list on the NASDAQ stock exchange by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) – Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp. The SPAC is an arm of OpSec's current owners – the private equity firm Investcorp Technology Partners.

The merger and listing is expected to close in the second half of this year, and will raise nearly $200 million, part of which will be used to fund growth through product development and potential acquisitions.