To beef up the security of its online trust services, VeriSign Inc. Monday spent more than $1.3
billion to acquire Signio Inc. and Thawte Consulting.
Both stock exchanges, Signio will cost VeriSign (VRSN)
about $784 million while Thawte’s price tag is $575 million.
For Verisign, Signio brings to the table its secure payment-services, which
connect online merchants, B2B exchanges, payment processors and financial
institutions on the Internet.
Signio’s payment platform enables a Web site to transform into an online
storefront in a matter of minutes. Unlike some other HTTP-based payment
solutions, Signio’s service maintains data securely during the entire
authorization process, providing a risk and trouble free transaction.
Signio will lend Verisign the following services:
- Seamless and immediate deployment of payment services for virtually
every payment type — including credit cards, debit cards, automated
clearinghouse transactions and Internet checks - Unlimited credit card and Internet check transactions for a flat
monthly rate - Connectivity with more payment processors than any other solution in
the industry - Integrated fraud screening and risk management in partnership with eHNC
- Integration with major shopping carts and leading B2C and B2B platforms
“VeriSign and Signio are a natural fit both in terms of our complementary
services as well as in the types of markets we serve,” said Philippe
Courtot, Signio’s chairman and chief executive officer. “By linking Signio’s payment services
with VeriSign’s widely-recognized brand, sizeable customer base and global
network of resellers and affiliates, we can now further accelerate market
adoption of our payment platform.”
Thawte Consulting is an online digital certificate provider based in South
Africa. Upon Thawte’s incorporation, VeriSign will be able to implement a
consistent set of global standards for the issuance and management of
digital certificates for Web sites and software developers. VeriSign
currently serves all of the Top 40 e-commerce sites and Fortune 500
companies with a Web presence, and thousands of other sites with its range
of Secure Site, Global Site and Code-Signing and certificate services.
Thawte has built a franchise through an agent network in over 22 countries
around the world. Together, the companies have more than 3,300 ISPs, ASPs and Web
Hosting companies acting as resellers of their services. They are the only
two digital certificate providers with commercial availability of 128-bit
Web site certificates, which enable highly strong encryption in both
domestic and export versions of browsers.
“We are thrilled to join forces with VeriSign to enable a worldwide
foundation for e-commerce,” said Mark Shuttleworth, president and chief executive officer of
Thawte Consulting. “By combining our respective operations, teams and
customer bases, we will be able to serve a broader set of customers under
on common set of trust principles across the Internet.”
VeriSign Inc. provides Internet trust services — including authentication,
validation and payment — needed by Web sites,
enterprises and e-commerce service providers to conduct secure electronic
commerce and communications over IP networks.
In August, VerisSign introduced Go Secure! for Web Applications, a tool for
enterprises to utilize digital certificates for secure intranet and
extranet applications without requiring proprietary client software or
hardware.
“With Thawte, we are looking to extend our leadership in the industry with the incorporation of the No. 2 provider of digital certificates, which will appeal to small businesses looking to secure Web sites,” said
Anil Pereira, vice president, Internet Services Group, VeriSign.
“On the Signio side, we took at a look at what Signio was doing in authentication and open payment services. We are both managed services companies and we liked the fit in terms of what we would be able to offer B2B services.”