The boards of directors managing Allied Universal Topco and of G4S have announced that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer, to be made by Atlas UK Bidco Limited, a newly incorporated entity that is indirectly controlled by Allied Universal, to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of G4S. The deal reportedly worth $5.1 billion combines two of the largest security companies in the world, and comes after G4S has spent months rejecting other lower offers made by Canadian company Gardaworld.

The G4S Directors of G4S are unanimously recommending that G4S shareholders should accept the offer, and according to the statement released by the company, they have irrevocably undertaken to do so in respect of their own G4S Shares, which represent approximately 0.21 per cent of the total shareholding.

The combination of Allied Universal and G4S will create a world-leading integrated security business with revenues of approximately US$18 billion, and a workforce of over 750,000 people, a strong international platform and an extensive portfolio of blue-chip clients across the public and private sectors.

Commenting on the Offer, Ashley Almanza, Chief Executive Officer of G4S said: “G4S has been transformed into a focused global leader in security services with market-leading solutions and a blue-chip customer base that is served by a dedicated and talented team of over 530,000 employees. The combination of G4S and Allied Universal creates the global leader in security with over 750,000 employees, industry leading capabilities and unrivalled market coverage. This unique and compelling combination will offer customers exceptional service and provides employees with an exciting future.”

Commenting on the Offer, Steve Jones, President and Chief Executive of Allied Universal said: “We are delighted that our offer of 245 pence per share has been recommended by the G4S Board. Our businesses know each other well, we share a similar culture and values and I am excited about what the combination of Allied Universal and G4S can deliver. G4S has an excellent service offering, an enviable global customer portfolio and it is led by a highly experienced management team. We have been impressed by the recent transformation of G4S which alongside our successful acquisition track record, underpins our confidence of ensuring a seamless integration of the two businesses. Combined, we will have over 100 years of industry experience and a more extensive global network in terms of people, customers and capabilities.”

The facial recognition market is expected to grow from USD 3.8 billion in 2020 to USD 8.5 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.2% during the forecast period, according to the latest information from Marketsandmarkets. The researchers aniticipate that the market will experience substantial growth over the next five years due to increased investments by the government and defense sectors. Additionally, the growing surveillance industry, particularly in North America and Europe, could push companies to deploy or develop facial recognition solutions in the coming years, and a high adoption rate is also expected to be registered in the APAC region.

Since the 1960s, facial recognition technology has witnessed major changes due to rising investments in the surveillance space by enterprises globally. One of the major factors for the high growth of the facial recognition market is the rising expenditure on the technology by various government organisations. The technology has helped criminal investigations and facilitated various departments in the rapid identification of offenders. Government applications such as law enforcement, military and defence, homeland security, and state and national government together constitute approximately 60% of the facial recognition technology revenue, and this trend is expected to continue during the forecasted period. The Defense Advanced Research Products Agency (DARPA) funded the Face Recognition Technology (FERET) Evaluation from 1993-1997 to boost the advancement of facial recognition algorithms and technology. This helped in evaluating the prototypes of facial recognition systems and propelled these systems to become commercial product.

Software tool
The software tool provides quicker and easier identification and verification based on facial features, which helps in easing numerous processes, such as immigration, attendance tracking, and access control. Software tools are further divided into 2D facial recognition, 3D facial recognition, and facial analytics.

The increase in crime rate and terrorist activities are found to be driving the demand for advanced technologies, such as facial recognition. Currently, 3D facial recognition software is gaining traction with end users, as it can accurately detect and identify various facial expressions and positions. Companies such as NEC, Ayonix, Idemia, and Stereovision Imaging are offering 3D facial recognition software tools for facial recognition. It is expected that 3D facial recognition would grow with fastest growing CAGR during the forecast period

By application area, within the report, the facial recognition market has been mainly categorised into emotion recognition, attendance tracking and monitoring, access control, law enforcement, and others. Over the past decade, many major technology players have acquired companies that are operating in the facial recognition domain to add value to their own services. For instance, technology giants, such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, are exploring the space of facial recognition.

North America has a history of investment in facial recognition

Owing to their strong economies, the analysts expect the US and Canada to be major contributors to the growth of the facial recognition market. With technologies advancing every single day and growing economies of North America, companies in the region can afford to invest huge amounts on the adoption of these technologies. North America has a history of the use of facial recognition solutions and services. Flourishing technologies, such as smart infrastructures, smart city initiatives, the use of epassports, and evisas, are factors driving the growth of the facial recognition market.

Major vendors named by Marketsandmarkets as being active in the global facial recognition market include NEC, Aware, Ayonix, Cognitec, NVISO, Animetrics, Neurotechnology, Daon, Stereovision Imaging, Techno Brain, Innovatrics, Id3 Technologies, Thales, Idemia, Nuance Communication, Bio ID, Fulcrum Biometrics, Trueface.AI, Amazon, Facephi, Herta Security, Kairos AR, Sightcorp, and Microsoft.

Jeff Lee is the new Managing Director of Hanwha Techwin Europe. He has worked for the Hanwha Group for over 21 years and was appointed Hanwha Techwin Europe’s Sales Director in August 2019.

As the company’s Sales Director, he has been working closely with his predecessor Bob (H.Y.) Hwang, who has led the company over the last 5 years. Hwang is returning to Korea to take up another senior management position.

“Building partnerships and earning the trust of system integrators and distributors has always been fundamental to how Hanwha Techwin Europe operates. To this end, I firmly believe our company’s ongoing success can be secured by ensuring we always operate with integrity and that in addition to offering quality products and solutions, it excels in everything it does. Our existing comprehensive range of Wisenet products and solutions gives us a fantastic base from which we can together achieve great success during 2021. However, you can be 100% confident that our product roadmap and sales strategy will, in a highly competitive environment, help you achieve sales growth”, stated Lee in a message to Hanwha’s business partners.

Memoori’s 12th annual world report on the Physical Security Business estimates that the total value of physical security products at factory gate prices in 2020 was $31.7Bn, a decline of over 7% on 2019. Sales declined over all 4 quarters as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has ended eleven consecutive years of growth in the industry.

In June 2020, the World Bank published a baseline forecast envisioning a 5.2% contraction in global GDP in 2020. Against this backdrop, the Memoori report delivers a best estimate of the global market for physical security products going forward to 2025 based on two scenarios. At this time, Covid-19 has been having second spikes in Q3 / Q4 and several countries are experiencing rolling lockdowns. On this basis, Memoori researchers believe their 2nd scenario looks most feasible where global markets take around a year to return to some normality and mass global adoption of a vaccine is achieved within 18 months. Memoori suggests this scenario has a probability of 65%.

Counteracting these macroeconomic forces, the pandemic has also created demand for new solutions to help control the spread of the virus. Physical security products have risen to the challenge, helping to implement social distancing protocols through existing access and video systems with AI-powered analytics. Thermal cameras have also been deployed to measure people’s temperature, with demand being strong. However their usefulness has been questioned, with the World Health Organisation saying that on its own temperature screening “may not be very effective”.

Despite all this Memoori analysts are still confident of the industry’s robustness and prospects for growth over the medium to long term. Market drivers like the threat from terrorism and crime are unlikely to abate, whilst urbanisation and smart infrastructure will further drive demand for more and better security systems.

Above all the Covid-19 outbreak will force suppliers to radically rethink how they operate their business, in particular resilience to externalities. In parallel, there will be lessons to learn on having a more coordinated and resilient supply chain. The analysts find that the video surveillance business is too dependent on Chinese OEM’s and component manufacturers. With many of these factories closed for the first two months of 2020, it caused temporary supply chain issues.

As we move forward Post-Covid, Memoori concludes that vendors will need to investigate customer’s requirements thoroughly, particularly those businesses that have been severely damaged by Covid-19. It will be more difficult for these customers to find the budget to invest and therefore they have to be convinced of a return on their investment. ACaaS and VSaaS can provide a solution to this problem and there is evidence of significant accelerating growth in cloud services.

Salto Systems, a leading manufacturer of electronic access control solutions, has acquired Gantner Electronic Austria Holding GmbH. Gantner is an Austrian company specialised in access systems, electronic locking and locker systems, cashless payment, cash register and billing systems, staff time recording systems as well as ticketing and management software for leisure facilities.

In addition to Gantner, Salto has added Clay (NL) and Danalock (DK) to its portfolio in recent years, thereby strengthening its position in cloud, mobile access, and customer-centric solutions such as ticketing systems and cashless payment.

Part of what attracted Salto to Gantner was their strong commitment to research and development. “The addition of Gantner to the Salto portfolio offers a very bright future for our ability to continue to deliver the absolute best in electronic access control solutions,” said Javier Roquero, the Co-founder and CEO of Salto. “The Gantner product suite offers a variety of innovative locking solutions as well as cashless payment and ticketing systems that enrich and diversify our product offering and will enhance the end-user experience. We are thrilled to welcome Gantner to the Salto family.”

With a combined workforce of 1,200 employees in 40 countries, including more than 230 dedicated to R&D, a turnover of €260 million and over a million access points delivered each year, the combined group consolidates its position as a global leader in electronic access control.

Salto and Gantner are ready and willing to accomplish new growth projects together. The combined group will enable Salto’s customers to offer their guests and employees a hassle-free end-to-end journey (e.g. access to parking lot, main entrance, elevators, ticketing, cashless payment, lockers, office doors, canteen and leisure facilities, all with the same credentials).

The transaction was financed by a combination of capital increase, bank financing and cash. The capital increase amounts to €125 million and has been subscribed by both existing shareholders such as Alantra(SP) and new investors such as Sofina (BE), Peninsula Capital (LUX), and Florac (FR). Financial investors will hold a combined 30% stake in Salto, with the remainder retained by Salto’s founding members and managers (60%) and private investors (10%).

Retailers are constantly reinventing themselves to compete in the current shopping landscape, where customer experience is becoming more and more important. Traditional ’budget’ supermarket giant Lidl wanted to makes changes to attract a different type of shopper to adapt. They turned to technology to streamline infrastructure and make customers feel more welcome in one of the first places they see – the underground car park. Lidl asked top distributor ADI for this, who built a solution using Hikvision products. This was implemented in two Lidl stores in France.

Challenge
Grocery shoppers are often in a hurry, and the first potential delay to their shopping, and addition to their stress, is finding a parking space. Lidl wanted to improve this in their underground car park – to make the parking experience more welcoming for customers. The people they wanted to encourage into the store were in a higher socioprofessional group and they wanted to make them see the sophistication and ease of shopping at the store.
This meant a switch from well-known ultrasonic sensor technology widely used in Lidl parking to a Parking Vehicle Guidance System (PVGS). Although use of ultrasonic sensors was familiar to LIDL, it did not afford them complete coverage of the entire parking space. So, Lidl was in the market for a fresh perspective and wanted to try a new solution.

ADI looked at Hikvision for its trust in Hikvision’s technology and products, and its ability to ‘push the envelope’ of technology. As a result, a Parking Video Guidance Solutions (PVGS) has been deployed in two brand new underground parking garages for the retail chain in the towns of Choisy le Roi and Livry-Gargan.

Solution
The PVGS solution is built from a number of products and technologies, working seamlessly together through a dedicated HikCentral Enterprise VMS module.

External Interface Parking Guidance Cameras (DS-TCP345-K/S/DS-TVG 300) were set up throughout the car park to show drivers the way to the empty spaces. The single-lens camera monitors 1 or 2 parking spaces and can see immediately when a car enters or leaves the space(s). With this information, space occupancy status can be immediately updated, changing the corresponding guidance light to green, or red, for instance. This means drivers no longer have to continuously circle the car park on the stressful search for a space.

The cameras have a dual purpose, providing video security too. In fact, 100% of parking spaces are now covered by the camera network, so the security of the car park is increased.

The cameras are coordinated by Video Guidance Terminals (DS-TPM400-P(6T)/ DS-TPM400-P/TPS), and this is all brought together using a 16 Port Gigabit Unmanaged Switch (DS-3E0516-E) and a General Purpose Server (DS-VE11D-C/HW01). In the monitoring center, operators use HikCentral VMS to manage the system, with HikCentral Enterprise licenses.

The entire solution is made up of Hikvision products – testimony to their flexibility and innovation. It provided an innovative answer to Lidl’s challenge, giving shoppers an easier, more welcoming way to start their shopping experience.

Mohamed El Shikby, Lidl’s Technical Real Estate Manager, says: “This new affordable system gives clear and effective guidance for our shoppers. They can immediately see parking space status on entry, avoiding wasted time and lowering risk of accident. We are confident that this will give a great first impression to all our customers, including new ones.”

This solution is scalable, so extension can be easily added by just adding new devices. It is a great example of Hikvision’s reputation as an innovative manufacturer with high quality products.

From January 1st, 2021 onwards, all Siqura activities will continue under the banner of TKH Security. The two video security solutions companies were both already members of TKH Group NV. The Siqura video security solutions are often sold in combination with the developed security solutions of TKH Security and this complete solution, according to the group, is highly appreciated by their customers worldwide. Therefore, the time has come to group all activities in TKH Security.

“By combining all activities, we give our customers more transparency and clarity in what we can offer them. Furthermore, we increase our services. For example, the contact point for all questions and orders, invoices, documentation, support tickets, etc. will be centralised. This will be much more efficient for our customers as well as our employees”, says Timme Grijpink, Managing Director of TKH Security.

The Siqura brand will be retained for the wide product range of Siqura, such as security cameras, mobility cameras, marine cameras, explosion-proof and thermal cameras, IP video encoders, ethernet switches and fibre optic transmitters. This product range is complementary to the TKH Security product range, encompassing security management, video management, parking facility management and asset & site management solutions.

With this aggregation of activities TKH Security has offices worldwide in Amsterdam, Gouda and Zoetermeer (the Netherlands), Madrid (Spain), Dubai (UAE), Singapore and Frederick (USA).

Marketsandmarkets expects the biometric system market market to grow from USD 36.6 billion in 2020 to USD 68.6 billion by 2025, at an estimated CAGR growth of 13.4%. The major factors cited by the researchers as driving the market include the increasing use of biometrics in consumer electronic devices for authentication and identification purposes, the growing need for surveillance and security with the heightened threat of terrorist attacks, and the surging adoption of biometric technology in automotive applications, and of course the impact of Covid-19.

The growing demand for multi-factor authentication means that this sub-sector is predicted to show the fastest growth over the period. This is attributed to the rising need for additional security against the theft of sensitive data, especially in government and defence verticals. Combining multiple identifiers adds an extra level of protection, making the system more effective, accurate, and reliable. In addition, a multimodal biometric system can reduce the failure to enroll (FTE) and failure to capture (FTC) rates. The rapid development of biometric smart cards for payment and identification purposes is expected to drive the growth of the multi-factor authentication segment.

Hybrid systems offer more protection
Hybrid biometric systems are predicted to grow at the highest CAGR level, because they offer enhanced safety against spoofing or forgery through multi-level authentication. In addition, many countries, such as the US, India, and the UK, have adopted multimodal authentication systems (a combination of two or three biometric modalities, using contact-based or contactless systems) for security checkpoints at country borders due to the heightened threat of terrorist attacks.

The Middle East & Africa and South America are projected to show the highest growth in terms of geography. The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world in terms of infrastructure, electronics industry, and other technological advancements. The growth of the biometric system market in the Middle East & Africa can be attributed to their unique geographic location, airport hubs, and increasing passenger traffic. The government sector is the primary investor in the biometric system market in the Middle East, mainly for the national ID projects; the banking sector is another major contributor to market growth in the region. The adoption of biometrics technology in other sectors such as residential and commercial security, healthcare, and travel & immigration is comparatively low, but it is expected to increase in the next few years.

This latest report from Marketsandmarkets cites some of the major companies involved in the development and supply of biometric systems including, Thales, Safran, NEC, Assa Abloy, and Fujitsu.

The latest update of Milestone Xprotect video management software (VMS), 2020 R3, has been engineered to take security to a new level by offering highly secure encryption from Microsoft.

Protecting sensitive data in surveillance systems is key to maintaining video authenticity, personal privacy, and adequate cyber security measures. Xprotect 2020 R3 includes a new level of encryption from Microsoft called Cryptography New Generation (CNG) that provides adherence to the highest level of cyber security and data protection on the market today. Xprotect’s new encryption modules include stronger data protection, increased cyber security, evidence authenticity and password-protected configuration. Embedding this encryption, also means that Xprotect can now be configured to operate in a FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) 140-2 compliant mode. FIPS is a U.S. government computer security standard utilised in all software solutions deployed in U.S. federal agencies and regulated industries such as healthcare and finance.

Improved search facility

Security operators are the eyes and ears of their organisation. When an incident occurs, they are expected to provide video evidence immediately. This can sometimes be a challenging task, especially for installations with thousands of cameras recording 24/7. Xprotect 2020 R3 offers a new multi-category Search function that makes finding the specific video evidence easier and faster. Multi-category Search allows the operator to combine and search across multiple Search categories such as people, vehicles, and location as well as any Search agents developed and integrated into Xprotect by third-party technology partners. As an example, operators can narrow their investigation to only contain video sequences that include blue vehicles AND male persons and exclude those that only meet one of them.

Xprotect 2020 R3 also offers expanded support for any 360-degree camera that delivers a complete round fish-eye view. According to Milestone, most customers will experience significant installation and camera cost reductions and increased situational awareness when deploying these camera types compared to standard surveillance cameras.

The 2020 R3 release contains many more new and improved features and capabilities such as improved video rendering performance in the Xprotect Smart Client, adaptive streaming for Xprotect Mobile and direct streaming improvements in Xprotect Web Client. On the cameras and devices side, Xprotect 2020 R3 includes improvements such as increased security without compromising ease-of-use, more freedom to build installations that suit customers’ needs and new device packs.

We recently wrote about SIRA certification (New Regulation Certificate of Compliance from Dubai Police/SIRA/Videoguard) for our Full HD AHD cameras and hybrid DVRs.
Today we are again pleased to announce that now Partizan IP cameras passed the tests and certified too from SIRA, Dubai.
This means that now the entire line of Partizan cameras (AHD/IP) can be used in any level and variety of projects in UAE, especially Dubai!
Only equipment of the highest quality can receive certification in the UAE, and the Partizan brand has once again proved its compliance with this title.
To order, please contact:
sales@partizanstore.eu

tel (English and Hungarian languages): +420 608 496 889
tel (Czech and Slovak languages): +420 608 880 986
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For UAE clients:
asme@partizan.global
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