VASCO and Banque Paribas Belgique S.A. Agree to Terms of a $3.4 Million Note
Note to Convert Acquisition Bank Guarantee
LOMBARD, Ill., and BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- T. Kendall Hunt, VASCO Corp. (OTC:BULLETIN - news) Chairman and CEO, announced today, at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, that Banque Baribas Belgique S.A., Brussels, Belgium, has agreed to convert a $3.4 million bank guarantee into a loan in the form of a 5 year Convertible Note at an annual interest rate of 3.25 percent.
He added the Note may be converted into VASCO Common Stock at a discount. The discount ranges from 10 to 20 percent depending on the date of a Secondary Stock Offering. The 10 percent discount rate would be applied if the Secondary Stock Offering was available by June 30, 1998. Hunt did not disclose any additional details of the loan at the meeting. The loan is subject to the completion of a final Facility Agreement which is expected to be completed by June 30, 1997.
Hunt added that he was very pleased that Paribas, a Belgium banking partner of its European subsidiary, has reconfirmed its faith in the future of VASCO and its computer information security products.Banque Paribas Belgique S.A. is part of Banque Paribas, a Paris, France based, $240 billion asset international bank with 26,000 employees and offices throughout the world, he added. With 220 offices, branches and subsidiaries, Banque Paribas has a presence in some 60 countries.
In 1996, Banque Paribas Belgique provided a critical bank guarantee in association with the acquisition of Digipass s.a. of Charleroi, Belgium. Digipass was combined with Lintel Security, another VASCO acquisition in Belgium, to form VASCO's wholly owned European subsidiary, VASCO Data Security nv/sa.
VASCO computer information security technology products, and those acquired through the acquisition of Lintel and Digipass are much better known in Europe than in the United States. Over 110 major European banks and financial institutions presently use VASCO information security products.
Hunt also told shareholders about last week's major announcement of VASCO's first business partnership in Asia with its appointment of Hucom Incorporated of Tokyo as its exclusive distributor in Japan. He said about 100 Hucom sales people will market the VASCO family of computer security information products to financial institutions and Fortune 500 type companies in Japan. Hucom said they expect to produce approximately $3 million in sales in 1997 and $6 million in sales in 1998, which includes a markup of its purchases from VASCO. Under any circumstances, VASCO is guaranteed by contract a minimum of $500,000 in purchases of its products by Hucom in 1997 and $1,000,000 in 1998.
Hunt also explained to shareholders the future significance of the recently signed agreements with Netscape (Nasdaq:NSCP) and Shiva Corp. (Nasdaq:SHVA) and the future of its recently introduced group of VACMan products. In other business, the current Board of Directors were re-elected through December, 1997. Hunt also reported on VASCO's year to date sales performance and provided an overview of its present capital formation efforts.
About VASCO
VASCO Corp., headquartered in Lombard, IL, and its foreign and domestic subsidiaries offer information security technologies which enable critical client applications designed to achieve corporate initiatives and improve profitability. Since 1986, VASCO has become a leader in computer security authentication devices, with more than 1.8 million sold worldwide to date.
VASCO's computer security subsidiaries include VASCO Data Security, Inc. of Lombard, IL, and VASCO Data Security nv/sa of Brussels, Belgium. VASCO's patented and proprietary hardware and software products provide computer security, Advanced Authentication Technology, and RSA/DES encryption for financial institutions,industry and government. Additional information is available on the World Wide Web at 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,'' or ``expects'' 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.
Standard & Poor's CORPORATION RECORDS provides coverage on VASCO Corp. (OTC:BULLETIN - news).
SOURCE: VASCO Corp.
Contact: Ken Hunt, CEO, VASCO Corp., 630-932-8844 or tkh@vasco.com |
