Zug, Switzerland , May 25, 2018 - WISeKey International Holding Ltd (SIX: WIHN) (OTCQX: WIKYY), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company, whose Class B Shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, announced today that it has completed the full acquisition of the remaining 15% of QuoVadis Holdings Ltd (" QuoVadis "), a leading cybersecurity company with strong focus in next generation Public Key Infrastructure (" PKI "), Certification Authority (" CA ") and electronic signature services (" eID "), with operating activities in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Bermuda.
In April 2017, WISeKey paid (for the acquisition of 85%-stake in QuoVadis) ABRY and One Communications Ltd. (formerly known as KeyTech) USD13,000,000 cash plus 1,110,000 newly issued Class B Shares of WISeKey issued from existing authorized share capital, and paid off the indebtedness of QuoVadis in the amount of USD2,000,000.
Following its acquisition of 85% of the Company in April 2017, WISeKey concluded the negotiations with QuoVadis management to acquire the remaining 15% stake of QuoVadis in May 2018, based on QuoVadis' performance in financial year 2017 of USD 20 million revenue for the Digital certification and Managed PKI business. QuoVadis Management will receive a total of 860,000 Class B Shares against their 15%-stake of QuoVadis.
This acquisition reinforces WISeKey position as a market leader in this newly emerging industry referred to as "Vertical Platforms for IoT Security Technologies." In its recently-released TechRadar report for security and risk professionals, Forrester Research discussed the outlook for the 13 most relevant and important IoT security technologies and identified the sector between Cybersecurity and IoT in which WISeKey operates as one of the highest growing sectors in the next five years. The continued evolution of IoT-specific security threats is expected to drive innovation and lead to the appearance of more new IoT-specific security technologies in the creation phase in the near future, many of which may align around WISeKey vertical- and industry-specific platforms, such as connected cars, connected medical devices or industrial applications.
The acquisition of QuoVadis allows WISeKey to reinforce its IoT PKI offering. IoT PKI is defined as the provision of a complete X.509 digital certificate and cryptographic key and life-cycle capabilities, including public/private key generation, distribution, management, and revocation which when combined with WISeKey Semiconductors product offerings provide a full Chip to Certificate IOT Solution.
In addition to technology and clients, QuoVadis brings to WISeKey its strength serving enterprise customers, with more than 300 large cap and 3,000 overall customers worldwide, including Europe, the United States and Australia. The Transaction has created strong synergies with WISeKey and the large recurring customer base of QuoVadis proven Trust/Link and Sealsign technologies; in-depth operations experience running multiple secure and high-availability trust-centre environments under strict accreditation regimes; and adopt sales and support teams based in important customer markets During 2018 significant investment has been made in capital and operational expenditure to implement full PKI delivery platforms in Switzerland and The Netherlands to facilitate operational efficiencies as well as GDPR and other regulatory compliance.
In FY2017, QuoVadis generated revenues of USD 20 million and EBITDA of approx. USD 4 million.
About WISeKey
WISeKey (SIX: WIHN) (OTCQX: WIKYY), is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey's Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust ("RoT") provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com .
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Press and investor contacts
| WISeKey Company Contact: Carlos Moreira Chairman & CEO Tel: +41 22 594 3000 info@wisekey.com | WISeKey Investor Relations (US) Contact: Lena Cati The Equity Group Inc. Tel: +1 212 836-9611 lcati@equityny.com |
Disclaimer:
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.
