Former Safran Morpho e-Documents’ No. 2 man Julien Zuccarelli has been named CEO of France-based ASK, as the contactless vendor continues its turnaround and expansion efforts.

Zuccarelli, who while at Morpho was instrumental in acquisitions of TSM, card personalization and chip design companies, replaces Thierry Lucereau, who is stepping down as ASK’s CEO but will stay on with the company as executive vice president. Lucerau had joined ASK in late 2011, following a restructuring. 

Zuccarelli signed on with Morpho’s smart cards unit, e-Documents, in 2010 as deputy CEO of cards under executive vice president Philippe d’Andrea. He continued to serve as No. 2 until leaving in recent weeks.