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/

Copyright