French smart card specialists GEMPLUS and AXALTO are to merge. Under the name GEMALTO, the new group will have a turnover of 1.8 billion euro in some 50 countries and will employ 11,000 people. The merger will take the form of a public exchange offering (PEO) of AXALTO shares against GEMPLUS stocks, with two AXALTO shares equalling 25 GEMPLUS shares. GEMPLUS shareholders will also receive 0.26 euro per share. Following the deal, GEMPLUS shareholders will own 55.4% of GEMALTO and AXALTO...