OpSec Goes Public, Again

OpSec has announced that it will list on the NASDAQ stock exchange by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) –Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp I. 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 the year, and will raise nearly $200 million, part of which will be used to fund growth through product development and potential acquisitions.

The move follows OpSec’s acquisition of Zacco, an intellectual property management and protection company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark that unites traditional legal expertise with digital brand management and security.

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, extends 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.

OpSec developed from a merger between Applied Holographics and Opsec Security, with the former acquiring the latter in 2000. The company was listed on the UK Stock Exchange until 2015, when it was acquired by the private equity firm Orca. It is forecasting revenues of $218 million for 2023 and employs 1,300 people across 20 sites worldwide.