Norwegian biometrics firm Next Biometrics has attracted some 120 million Norwegian crowns in ($14.78 million) investment from Greenbridge Partners, a firm founded by Swedish investors Melker Schorling and Ola Rollen.Next now plans to hold an extraordinary meeting of its shareholders to approve a planned issue of two million shares at a price of 60 crowns each. The company plans to use proceeds from the private placement to finance its business plan and commercialisation of company's productsSchorling AB owns major stakes in companies like measurement technology and software firm Hexagon, lock maker Assa Abloy and security firm Securitas. Rollen, CEO at Hexagon, also holds a stake in Next's Swedish biometrics peer Fingerprint Cards.Meanwhile, on the same day that the investment was revealed, the company said it has agreed with Ngoc Minh Dinh to terminate royalty payments to be made under agreement of May 8, 2008. The firm and Ngoc have agreed that it is in best interest of both parties to terminate annual payment under agreement against a one time payment of 9.5 million Norwegian crowns ($1.17 million).Ngoc is the inventor of the Active Thermal Principle that underpins the company's fingerprint sensor technology, and was a founder of the firm.The Active Thermal Principle is based on transfer of heat from sensor into finger ridges and valleys.Rollen told Reuters that the concept could prove pivotal in coming years, saying the firm's thermal technology being less brittle than silicon wafers used by other peers, a key characteristic as credit cards need to be able to bend.

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