Card-issuing and personalisation equipment specialist Matica has entered a US joint venture to boost growth.

The AIM-quoted company, which designs and manufactures machines for issuing and personalising ID cards, credit, debit and smart cards, SIM cards, membership, loyalty and a string of other card categories, will not identify its new 50-50 US partner. But chief executive officer Sandro Camilleri says the new venture, Matica Americas, will enable the company expand its market coverage and support its US, Canadian and Latin American customers from a new base in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Matica (which lost £1.1 million last year on £10.4 million turnover) and its unnamed partner are committed to paying £750,000 over three years to fund Matica Americas. Camilleri claims the new venture, along with other recent acquisitions, will make Matica, already the second-largest worldwide producer of card-issuing and mailing systems, ‘a worldwide leader’ in card personalisation and mailing systems.

Floated at £1 last year, Matica shares fell to 27.5p earlier this month. Now 33.5p, up 2p this morning, they value the company at £3.4 million.    

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