NW_20000720_en_UBIZEN and VASCO Form Worldwide Strategic Partnership
LEUVEN, Belgium, and OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois - July 20, 2000 - Ubizen (EASDAQ: UBIZ; www.ubizen.com), a leading provider of total e-security solutions, and VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (NASDAQ: VDSI; EASDAQ: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a leading e-security product company, today announced the formation of a worldwide strategic partnership. The partnership - which is supported by Ubizen investing $15 million in VASCO - takes effect immediately, with both companies signing a mutual preferred provider and supplier agreement. In addition, Ubizen and VASCO will combine sales and marketing efforts to both prospective and existing customers, which include many of the world's leading banks and corporations, as well as government agencies spanning the US, Europe, and Asia/Pacific.
Benefits of the partnership include:
Ubizen obtains preferred access to VASCO's client base with high-end customers requiring total e-security solutions. VASCO will position Ubizen's MultiSecure product line - together with its enterprise security infrastructure software, SnareWorks - to its worldwide base of more than 140 leading financial institutions. SnareWorks is complementary to Ubizen's MultiSecure ETS product, one of Ubizen's security middleware products that provide extensive secure online banking and trading solutions.
VASCO obtains preferred access to a worldwide organization numbering more than 450 e-security professionals, including almost 80 in the US alone. This access will help VASCO accelerate implementation of its enterprise security infrastructure software, SnareWorks, in the US and Europe.
Both companies will promote its combined product and services offering to existing and prospective customers. Ubizen will introduce VASCO's SnareWorks, as well as VASCO's Digipass strong authentication products, to its blue-chip US and European customer base. In addition, the companies will explore joint security solutions that leverage their complementary technologies and support their market-driven product sets.
According to Wouter Joosen, Ubizen's Chief Technology Officer, "the MultiSecure product family - Ubizen's application security middleware - interoperates with best-of-breed infrastructure security products. The Single Sign-On capabilities of SnareWorks complement our MultiSecure ETS middleware product, which is open for authentication technologies, while guaranteeing effective authorization and non-repudiation at the application level."
Both organizations hailed the agreement as an additional step in their international growth as security infrastructure, application, and professional services companies. "Security is a vital component in every e-business environment," noted Ubizen CEO Stijn Bijnens. "Combining VASCO's extensive experience in authentication and access control with Ubizen's expertise in application security middleware provides us with a powerful positioning in a rapidly growing market."
Mario Houthooft, President and CEO of VASCO, concurred. "Our close partnership with Ubizen will allow us to accelerate the execution of our worldwide growth strategy, and we view Ubizen's financial participation in VASCO as an endorsement of our outstanding people, products, and markets. We feel confident that this partnership will bring wide-ranging benefits to our companies and customers today, and in the future."
Partnership supported by Ubizen's $15 million investment in VASCO
As part of the strategic partnership, Ubizen has agreed to invest USD $15 million in VASCO through the purchase of a series of preferred stock. At any time, the preferred stock will be convertible into shares of VASCO common stock at $14.25 per share, at which time a total of 150,000 preferred shares will be converted into 1,052,632 common shares. All of the outstanding shares of the preferred stock will be redeemable or will automatically convert into VASCO common stock 48 months after issuance.
In addition, Ubizen will receive 2 series of warrants to purchase 789,474 shares of VASCO common stock at a price of USD $15.00 per share and 480,000 shares of VASCO common stock at a price of USD $4.25 per share.
Use of proceeds by VASCO
VASCO will use a portion of the proceeds from Ubizen's investment to commence a worldwide marketing campaign, increase its sales force, fund additional research and development activities, expand into new geographic regions, and to fund potential strategic and tactical acquisitions.
Ubizen and VASCO will hold a conference call discussing the partnership that will be webcast at www.vcall.com, where it will be archived for 90 days. A replay of the call will also be available from Thursday, July 20, 2000 at 1:00 p.m. EDT until Monday, July 24, 2000 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. To access the replay from outside the US, call +1 703 925 2533; from the US call +1 888 266 2081. At the prompt, enter access code 4432263.
About Ubizen
Ubizen (EASDAQ: UBIZ) is a leading international provider of e-security solutions with operations in the USA, Europe and Asia offering total solutions through its security products and services. Ubizen's flagship product line, MultiSecure, provides solutions for securing web server content, applications and transactions through application-level security. With regard to infrastructure security, Ubizen's security consulting group undertakes a range of services from assessment to solution design, implementation and ongoing management. Ubizen's OnlineGuardian is a 24 x 7 managed service for monitoring companies' security defenses. Concerning Knowledge management, securitywatch.com is a security portal with up-to-date information on industry news, developments as well as alerts. Ubizen was founded in 1995 and currently employs over 450 security professionals worldwide. The group's customers include JP Morgan, the Fortis Group, S.W.I.F.T., France Telecom, British Telecom, Dassault, Alcatel, Volvo, KPN, Union Minière, the US Department of Defense and the International Monetary Fund. Ubizen partners include Nokia, Marsh, Unisys and Bottomline Technologies. More info on http://www.ubizen.com
About VASCO
VASCO (NASDAQ & EASDAQ: VDSI) secures the enterprise from the mainframe to the Internet with infrastructure solutions that enable secure e-business and e-commerce, protect sensitive information, and safeguard the identity of users. The company's family of Digipass™, VACMAN®, and SnareWorks™ products offers end-to-end security through true Single Sign-On, access control and advanced entitlements, web portal security, strong user authentication, and PKI enablement, while sharply reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage security. VASCO's customers include hundreds of financial institutions, blue-chip corporations, and government agencies in more than 50 countries, among them John Hancock, ABN AMRO Bank, Shell, 3M, Ericsson, Rabobank, SEB, First Union, Liberty Mutual, Cable and Wireless, Nokia, DaimlerChrysler, Volvo, European Commission, US Coast Guard, University of Groningen, and Duke University. VASCO's partners include Intel, Computer Associates, Lernout & Hauspie, Check Point Software Technologies, and Novell. More information is available at www.vasco.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," and similar words, is forward-looking, and these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.
Reference is made to VASCO Data Security International, Inc.'s public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding the company and its operations.
For more information please contact:
Americas:
Media: Kerry Roche, Bridgeman Communications, +1 617 742 7270, [email protected]
Investor Relations: Todd Fromer, KCSA Public Relations Worldwide, +1 212 682 6300, [email protected]
VASCO: Mike Lange, +1 630 932 8844, [email protected]
Europe/Asia:
Media (Benelux): Bob Pieters, Anthonissen & Associates, +32 3 286 7777, [email protected]
Media (Europe/Asia): Sven Kersten, HBI, +49 89 99 38 87 33, [email protected]
Investor Relations: Annemieke Blondeel, LBConsult, +44 208 308 7080, [email protected]
VASCO: Ariane Bosmans, +32 2 456 9810, [email protected]