On 1 March the business completed its purchase of Adon Development, which is based in Ratingen near Düsseldorf and supplies turnstiles, barriers, gates, and electronic door systems.
Its access control systems operate alongside an advanced online, browser-based event registration system that is fully customisable in terms of look and feel, enabling it to incorporate event branding and other features relevant to any event.
It can also be tailored for individuals attending the event, offering services from access to special zones through to food and drink credit in hospitality areas. The company’s products are available to lease or rent, serving clients including the Eurovision Song Contest, and Ski World Cup Croatia, as well as global motor racing events.
Adon Development’s founder, Peter Mooshage, and its six-strong team will all remain with the business, which is being rebranded to Cards-x Development.
Cards-x said the acquisition will enable the business to continue growing its client base throughout Europe and beyond.
A Cards-x spokesperson told Printweek: “Adon (now renamed to Cards-x Development) focus mainly on large sporting events with their online cloud-based solution software, which allows for turnkey physical access control delivered to large sporting events, festivals, as well as global political events.
“Cards-x Development also manufactures its own turnstiles which can be used in many access control environments such as football stadium turnstile access. We expect a lot of the UK access control companies to invest into our solution because it offers their company something out of the box and something bespoke.
“For example, the software can take the company’s/event’s corporate logo and colours and embed them into the software to make it look like their own. We now have an extensive research programme underway to develop more and more products that will be readily available for the access control market, including access readers, cards and additional turnstiles to meet customers’ requirements.”
Chief operating officer Andy Reeves added: “Cards-x is now at the forefront of the market in terms of security ID cards and the print equipment used to create them, and this latest acquisition is a key part of our ambition to become much more than a distributor and manufacturer.”
Cards-x’s UK division, based at a 186sqm distribution and manufacturing facility in Malton near York opened in October 2020 and acquired Evohold, which manufactures ID card holders, in December.
Last year the business launched what it claimed was the world’s first completely biodegradable card holder.
In the last 12 months Cards-x’s team has grown from six people to a team of eight at Malton, with a further 20 staff working in Germany following this latest acquisition. The deal has boosted the company’s turnover to €10m (£8.3m).
