FLO Corp. this month agreed to acquire Unisys Corp.'s Registered Traveler assets for $8 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The companies expect the transaction to close by year-end, subject to Department of Homeland Security approval and other closing requirements.
The companies earlier this year entered into a "teaming agreement," through which FLO marketed Unisys' RtGO Registered Traveler offering. Through the ownership change, FLO said it would "leverage the RtGO platform, which has obtained all industry certifications necessary to operate in this emerging market."
FLO in the SEC filing said it is purchasing such assets as "enrollment and verification kiosks and related equipment, intellectual property, prepaid RtGO memberships, the designation and certification of Unisys' Registered Traveler technology and certain material contracts." FLO said it has enlisted Unisys as an information technology subcontractor and plans to pay royalties to the company through 2015.
"Over the last year, we've been working to create a new and powerful option in the emerging RT marketplace," FLO CEO Glenn Argenbright said. "As we look forward, we plan to expand from our current strategy of acquisition and financing into a mode more heavily focused on growth and public restructuring. We believe FLO will represent the only publicly held pure play for investors interested in this new and innovative RT industry after FLO becomes a public reporting company."
Unisys Corp. in June launched Registered Traveler lanes at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, becoming the first competitor to Verified Identity Pass to launch lanes. FLO in an SEC filing said it plans to assume the operation of that airport program through the agreement. FLO and Unisys previously submitted joint bids for yet-to-be-awarded contracts from Washington Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Denver International Airport.
Verified Identity Pass operates lanes in at least one terminal in New York's John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports, and airports in Albany, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco, San Jose and Westchester County, N.Y.
Many corporate travel buyers, however, have said that they are waiting for more benefits and further penetration at U.S. airports before they would consider adopting Registered Traveler on behalf of their travelers
(BTN, Sept. 10).Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration this month said shoe-scanning technology developed by General Electric and used by Verified Identity Pass in Orlando "does not meet minimum detection standards."
"The machine currently in use in Orlando does not meet minimum detection standards, and several additional security measures are required by TSA to mitigate the shortfalls of the shoe-scanner feature," TSA said, adding it would continue to work with GE "to further test the GE shoe-scanner feature upon completion of additional detection capability enhancements to meet the agreed-upon security requirements."
Verified Identity Pass also said it is working to develop technology that exempts members from removing coats and laptops as they pass through its Clear checkpoints.
Meanwhile, a United States District Court last month dismissed a claim and counterclaim initiated when Verified Identity Pass filed a suit that alleged computer hacking by a former employee who now works for FLO
(BTNonline, July 20).