(Bloomberg) -- Buyout firm Advent International is looking to sell the European identity authentication business of Idemia as part of a breakup plan that will see each of the French biometrics company’s three units being sold separately, people with knowledge of the matter said. 

Advent is working with banks to launch an auction process in the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The operation could be valued at up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion), the people said. 

A spokesperson for Advent declined to comment.

The sale will gauge appetite for one of Europe’s biggest biometrics providers after a previous attempt to sell the entire company fell through last year over price differences, the people said.

Advent recently embarked on a reorganization that saw Idemia’s main businesses — smart identity, public security and secure transactions — becoming standalone entities. 

The identity business, which makes physical and digital credentials for identity cards, passports and driving licenses, has in turn been split, with its US operations being amalgamated within the public security business. The sale will only involve Idemia’s European identity business, the people said.

The company’s other operations will be sold at a later stage, the people said. 

Idemia was formed in 2017 when Boston-based Advent purchased Safran SA’s identity and security business and combined it with Oberthur Technologies, a company it acquired in 2011.

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