OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 2.00pm.
AN electronic commerce company based in the United States is paying R3,5-billion for a small Cape Town-based internet security group which has emerged as the second biggest company of its kind in the world.
According to the Business Day, Thawte, which provides digital certificates and security solutions for e-commerce, is being bought in a paper deal by VeriSign. The reciprocal shareholding has not yet been determined.
Thawte was established three years ago in Cape Town and has since grown its turnover to up to R25-million a year.
Thawte CE and owner Mark Shuttleworth said the group was a respected global player and conducted business in more than 100 countries in the past three years.
The deal with VeriSign became necessary to speed up its growth process and unlock value, he said.
The deal came as a short-cut attempt by the two groups to spread their activities throughout the world. Several options were considered before going into the deal, including taking Thawte to the public on its own. ”The merger with VeriSign, which is listed on Nasdaq, emerged as (the best and easiest) means to unlock our value.”
Shuttleworth said the merger would create a powerful and competitive global player, given the apparent synergies and complementary services of the two groups.
The deal would have minimal implications for the SA market as Thawte derived about 95% of its earnings from offshore activities, the paper reports.
20