SCM Microsystems Inc. announced that it has closed its merger with Hirsch Electronics Corp. The shareholders of both companies approved the transaction, which included the payment of cash and the issuance of SCM common stock and warrants to purchase shares of SCM common stock in exchange for the securities of Hirsch.

The merger closed on April 30 and Hirsch is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCM. Each company’s products and services will continue to be marketed, sold and supported using their existing brand names.

Acquiring Hirsch, a physical access solution provider and re-seller of SCM’s physical access readers, nearly doubles the size of SCM. SCM is a global provider of readers that enable people to access PCs and networks with smart cards containing authentication data and other information.

The merger provides SCM with additional scale and resources to develop, sell and support new products, systems and services to address the global appetite for secure authentication solutions to enable e-commerce, e-government and e-business.

In particular, SCM is focused on the global market opportunity for authentication via “contactless” smart cards and tokens. Among its other benefits, contactless authentication enables consumers around the world to make daily small purchases simply by holding up a card, token or mobile phone equipped with contactless logical access technology.