OpSec Security announces it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Zacco

4 April 2023

COPENHAGEN, DNK, April 4, 2023 – OpSec Security, a global leader in brand protection solutions, based in the UK, has today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Zacco, a leading intellectual property (IP) management and protection company. The acquisition is expected to complete in the coming weeks, subject to closing conditions and necessary approvals.

Tracing their origins back four decades, OpSec has evolved into a fully integrated brand monetization and protection business, operating across both physical and digital domains. Its solutions span brand licensing and engagement marketing, product identity and traceability, brand and document integrity, and online brand and content protection. With 800+ staff worldwide, OpSec brings together optical and materials scientists, software engineers, brand analysts, and product designers, to meet the needs of leading brands. It has a particular strength in sports, apparel, technology, and industrial sectors.

“As a business that has endured over 150 years, it was important that our next step was with the right partner,” said Mats Boström, Chief Executive of Zacco. “OpSec brings its own heritage as a respected global player in physical and digital brand protection, as well as an impressive portfolio of solutions and innovative technologies. The team at Zacco is looking forward to working with Selva and the OpSec team to take our joint portfolio to our respective customers in Europe and beyond.”

Looking ahead, OpSec expects to combine the respective strengths of the two businesses to help customers enhance the value of their IP portfolios, take advantage of new opportunities, and counter vulnerabilities and threats these may bring. This unified approach to optimizing IP and brands will also bring practical benefits across the IP lifecycle, with Zacco focused upstream on establishing IP rights, while OpSec helps monetize and assert these rights downstream.

“This is truly a defining moment for OpSec, from our origins as a provider of optical security to an IP and brand solutions business,” noted Dr Selva Selvaratnam, Chief Executive of OpSec Security. “It is just over three years since we expanded our offering to include online brand and content protection, and the acquisition of Zacco accelerates that momentum with the addition of a highly respected IP management business. I have been immensely impressed by how Mats and the team are transforming their model to pursue a new approach to IP. Their reputation in IP management is outstanding, with the Zacco patent practice particularly well established and offering significant further potential. This is the next step in an expansive strategy to bring together our full lifecycle solution for brand and IP optimization, monetization and protection.”

“We are on a journey to transform the management of IP,” added Jesper Kongstad, Vice Chairman of Zacco. “Our technology enabled approach brings together our team of IP management experts with a modern software portal to help manage the complexities inherent in large, diverse IP portfolios. OpSec applies similar principles in its own business, and it will be exciting to explore the opportunities this presents.”

The combined business will count around two thirds of the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2022 among its customers, including 19 of those in the top 25. Working with brand owners of this caliber has been a notable characteristic of both OpSec and Zacco to date and, looking ahead, focusing on the needs of these leading brands will remain an enduring priority.

For more information about OpSec and its acquisition of Zacco, please visit: www.opsecsecurity.com

About Zacco

Zacco is a leading European intellectual property service provider that traces its origins from 1870. We cover all technical areas within intellectual property and provide a range of advisory services. In addition to assistance in protecting intellectual property rights, Zacco also offers its clients strategic advice aimed at increasing their competitive edge through a professional utilization of those rights. Zacco has offices across Scandinavia and northern Europe.

About OpSec Security

OpSec is a world leader in brand authentication and integrity with a heritage that spans four decades. We serve many of the world’s leading brand owners, licensors, and media rights owners and are an innovator in addressing brand value and vulnerability across physical and digital domains. OpSec is also a provider of high-security and compliance solutions to governments. At OpSec, we bring together multiple disciplines to ensure that solutions are brand-led, practical, and effective.

For further details contact:

Mats Boström
Zacco
mats.bostrom@zacco.com

Giles Walker
OpSec Security
media@opsecsecurity.com

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