VeriSign To Purchase SSL Customer Contracts of EuroTrust
03 March 2004 - 9:07AM
PR Newswire (US)
VeriSign To Purchase SSL Customer Contracts of EuroTrust With
Acquisition, VeriSign Begins Direct Selling Efforts in Nordic
Market MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
VeriSign, Inc. , the leading provider of critical infrastructure
services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today
announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to
purchase the SSL customer agreements of EuroTrust PKI A/S, the
division of EuroTrust A/S (Nasdaq ADS: EURO) that resells VeriSign
services in Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and
Denmark. Once closed, the transaction will give VeriSign a direct
selling presence in the Nordic region, and will further the
company's expansion into Europe through its headquartersin Geneva,
Switzerland and offices in Berlin, Germany and London, England. "As
an affiliate of VeriSign, EuroTrust made tremendous strides in
introducing our services to new markets," said Francois Stieger,
senior vice president, VeriSign EMEA. "Withour agreement to
purchase the SSL certificate business from EuroTrust, we are
further expanding our presence in Europe, enabling us to offer our
family of VeriSign Intelligence and Controlsm Services directly to
customers. We look forward to providingexisting EuroTrust PKI A/S
customers with VeriSign's industry-leading services." Under the
terms of the agreement, VeriSign will pay EuroTrust A/S $8.5
million U.S. in cash and will assume the obligations of EuroTrust
PKI A/S SSL contracts. As a condition to closing the transaction,
VeriSign will sell its entire stake in EuroTrust for approximately
$2 million to certain third parties. The transaction is expected to
close the second quarter of 2004. VeriSign anticipates it will gain
approximately 18 employees and will lease a portion of the facility
presently occupied by those employees. About VeriSign VeriSign,
Inc. delivers critical infrastructure services that make the
Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable
and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and
millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with
confidence. Additional news and information about the company is
available at http://www.verisign.com/ . About EuroTrust A/S:
EuroTrust is presently the leading provider, in Scandinavia and
other western European markets, of an array of security products
and services, including secure communications, secure servers,
on-site solutions, virus detection, security penetration and
testing, and secure remote backup services. EuroTrust also owns a
broadcast media property in Scandinavia and also operates the
largest media production company in Scandinavia. More information
about EuroTrust and its subsidiaries is available at
http://www.eurotrust.dk/investors. Statements in this announcement
other than historical data and information constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that
could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from
those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The
potential risks and uncertainties include, among others,
theinability of VeriSign to successfully market the services and
customer acceptance of the services as provided by VeriSign; the
risks that expected economies in servicing customers will not
materialize; and we may incur unexpected costs integrating the
assets. More information about potential factors that could affect
the company's business and financial results is included in
VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2002 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the
forward-looking statement after the date of this press release.
DATASOURCE: VeriSign, Inc. CONTACT: Brendan P. Lewis, Media
Relations, +1-650-426-4470, or , or Kathleen Bare, Investor
Relations, +1-650-426-3241, or , both of VeriSign, Inc. Web site:
http://www.verisign.com/
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