Apple is taking a bite out of the Space Coast.
The iPhone and iPad maker has agreed to buy Melbourne-based AuthenTec Inc. in a deal valued at $356 million.
The takeover still has to be approved by the federal government.
Forget your password? That's not a problem for AuthenTec products.
The Melbourne-based company specializes in making fingerprint sensors for mobile phones, tablets and notebook computers.
AuthenTec also makes security software and chips for mobile phones that it licenses to other companies.
The company, which was spun-off from Harris Corporation in 1998, now has 20 million phones using the scanning recognition technology.
Its current clients include HBO and the federal government, but the company also provides products for Apple competitors like Samsung and Motorola.
The Brevard County company disclosed the deal in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Based on Thursday's closing price of $5.07, the offer represents a premium of 58 percent for AuthenTec's shares.
AuthenTec said it's an exciting day for the company now that they will be a part of Apple, though a spokesperson said they could not comment on the tech giant's plans for them.
A company spokesman for AuthenTec told me it’s an exciting day for their company, now that they’ll be a part of Apple.
AuthenTec employs 70 people here at its headquarters in Melbourne, and 220 worldwide. A spokesperson said they did not immediately know what the Apple deal means for AuthenTec's current employees.
Apple has not returned calls for comment.