Key Surety Inc.

General

• Designer and manufacturer of Keys.
• Has a strong reputation for innovation and reliability in an increasingly important marketplace.

• High-end competitor of Centrifuge Inc.
• In March 2005, was purchased by Centrifuge for PCL2.3 billion in cash and stock.

• Key Surety had been significantly weakened by a decades-long court battle over interoperability standards
• It had desperately needed an infusion of fresh capital to stay solvent. (Centrifuge CEO Halima Bourne said, "It came down to this: they really needed our money, and we really needed their R&D team.")
• Under the terms of the agreement, Key Surety will remain as an independent but wholly-owned subsidiary of Centrifuge for one year.
• After that transition period, senior management from both companies will go to the table to find the best way to integrate.
• No significant job cuts are expected until close to that anniversary mark.

• In late August 2005, KSI was awarded a contract with Perplex City, for PCL 18M, to revisit and revamp all existing securities systems.

• See also: Djinn for more information on keys, and how Key Surety Inc. and Centrifuge are dealing with the threat.

Employees

• Sarai Khurasani, security analyst
• Howard Angleburn, spokesman

References

• Perplex City Sentinel
  • article, 21-MAR-05 "Centrifuge Buys KSI" link
  • article, 28-MAR-05 "Djinn Jr. Reported" link
  • article, 25-MAY-05 "Next-Gen Keys Susceptible to Djinn" link
  • article, 01-SEP-05 "KSI Lands PCL18M Contract with City" link