GGRAsia – Crane NXT buys TruTag’s smart packaging assets

Crane NXT buys TruTag’s smart packaging assets

Oct 30, 2024 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

U.S.-based Crane NXT Co says it has completed the acquisition of the “smart packaging” assets of TruTag Technologies Inc. Crane NXT supplies a range of industries, including products for the gaming sector.

According to a Tuesday press release, TruTag provides “secure digitisation of physical products through proprietary secure marking and smartphone authentication”.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and the transaction “will not have a material impact on Crane NXT in 2024,” stated the firm in the announcement.

Aaron Saak, Crane NXT’s president and chief executive, said in prepared remarks that the addition of TruTag’s technology to Crane NXT’s product portfolio was an “exciting expansion” of the group’s capabilities, as it “further enhances” the firm’s ability to “provide differentiated and innovative technology solutions” to its customers.

“TruTag’s smart packaging technology will also expand our capability for direct-to-product marking in both consumer and industrial applications which will further drive profitable growth,” Mr Saak added.

The release also cited TruTag’s CEO, Barry McDonogh, as saying: “The long-standing customer relationships in the apparel, government and industrial markets, along with the alignment to the existing offerings of OpSec [Security Group Ltd], make Crane NXT a natural fit for the smart packaging technology.”

Earlier this year, Crane NXT completed the US$270-million acquisition of OpSec, a provider of brand protection and authentication services.

TruTag’s products will be incorporated into Crane NXT’s OpSec business, said the update.

According to the release, the smart packaging technology “enhances the ability of brand owners to assure the integrity of their products and supply chains”.

Crane NXT added: “Through an easy to apply, unique signature that can be printed onto labels or direct-to-products and packaging, consumers and brands can authenticate products through their smartphones using a machine-learning based platform that delivers exceptional response times and accuracy.”

A fortnight ago, Crane NXT announced a definitive agreement with De La Rue Plc to acquire the latter’s authentication business for GBP300 million (US392.3 million) in cash.