FCI Microconnections becomes Linxens

SINGAPORE: FCI Microconnections, a division of the FCI group and a global leader in the design and manufacture of flexible etched circuits (FECs), has become a standalone company operating under the name Linxens.

The creation of Linxens, which employs 770 people and has the capacity to produce over 10 billion FECs – or smart card tapes – for smart cards per annum, follows the acquisition of FCI Microconnections by Astorg Partners, a leading private equity group.

Announcing the launch of the new company at the CARTES & IDentification trade show in Paris, Christophe Duverne, CEO of Linxens, said: “The creation of Linxens represents the start of an exciting new era in our 30-year history. Our roots as a company go back to the early 1980s, when the FEC for smart card was created to meet the challenge of inter-connecting the first commercial IC cards with electronic readers. Since then, we have become a leader in the FEC market around the world, producing over 37 billion FECs for smart cards and introducing a host of innovative products for applications such as SIMs, dual-interface banking cards, electronic ID. By becoming a standalone company, we will further strengthen our focus on customers’ needs, while maintaining our R&D efforts in developing new products.”

Duverne added: “The name Linxens highlights the key role we play in linking smartcards with readers, users with applications, and our customers with their markets. Along with our new tagline, ‘access to excellence’, it also highlights our unique know-how and passion for quality and innovation that we put at the service of our customers to deliver reliable and robust flexible circuits.”

The new company will benefit from the extensive manufacturing and R&D facilities established by FCI Microconnections. These include fully integrated, automated reel to reel production plants in France and Singapore, and a newly opened inspection unit in China. With a truly global operation, the company has achieved a turnover of €200 million in 2010, with 61 percent of sales generated in Asia.

Under the terms of a sales agreement signed on October 30 2011, 70 percent of shares in Linxens will be held by Astorg Partners and 30 percent by Bain Capital. Welcoming the new ownership structure, Duverne said: “The choice of Astorg Partners was made after a very thorough and careful selection process. They are one of the most active private equity fund management groups in France and have an excellent track record in helping technology companies develop into new markets. Responsible for assets worth more than €2 billion, they also offer a very supportive and entrepreneurial management culture.”

Christian Couturier, partner at Astorg, said: “Linxens represents a very attractive investment. It is already a global leader in its market, thanks to outstanding innovation capabilities and industrial know-how. We are looking forward to working with Christophe Duverne and his management team. We are determined to turn Linxens, as a standalone company, into an even greater success story for its customers and staff.”

Linxens’ key strengths include the ability to produce very high volumes of competitively priced FECs that demonstrate exceptional standards of reliability. Crucially, Linxens produces FECs in a reel to reel format that supports automated manufacturing processes and achieves unrivalled quality levels. The company has been manufacturing FECs at its plant in Mantes la Jolie, France, since 1989 and opened a second manufacturing site in Singapore in 2004. In October 2011, a final inspection unit began operations in Suzhou, China.

Linxens’ product portfolio covers a comprehensive range of FECs, including double-sided circuits that are used in the fast-growing dual-interface payment cards. In 2007 the company introduced the ground-breaking NXT plating technology which has since become the de-facto standard for the smart card industry, as it reduced the reliance on gold while improving resistance to corrosion. The company has also been actively involved in the creation of new SIM form factors, including for the fast growing M2M (Machine to Machine) market, and has recently designed new modules for e-Passport applications.

With a clear strategy to opening new markets, Duverne explained: “Thanks to our R&D efforts, we will strive to maintain our leadership in the smart card market by bringing constant innovation to our customers. In parallel, Linxens has developed beyond the smart card market as it has already started to do several years ago by developing FEC solutions for new markets.”