Tuesday August 29, 7:31 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
Tumbleweed Increases Ownership Position of Japanese Subsidiary
Tumbleweed Now Owns 80% of Tumbleweed Communications KK
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug.t 29, 2000--Tumbleweed Communications Corp.® (Nasdaq:TMWD - news), a leading provider of advanced e-mail solutions for business communications, today announced that it has acquired an additional 25% of its jointly-owned Japanese subsidiary, Tumbleweed Communications KK (TKK), which it co-owns with Hikari Tsushin. The additional 25% interest in TKK increases Tumbleweed's ownership position in the subsidiary to 80%.
Tumbleweed purchased the shares from Hikari Tsushin for $13.75 million. Hikari Tsushin still owns 20% of shares in Tumbleweed KK.
``Tumbleweed has made significant progress in Japan, with customers across a broad range of core industries,'' said Jeffrey C. Smith, president and CEO, Tumbleweed Communications Corp. ``We believe that our enhanced position in Tumbleweed KK is not only an excellent investment but also key to our business goals as we develop a long term presence in the Japanese market.''
Tumbleweed's customers in Japan include Asia Securities Printing, Canon Sales, Daiwa, HP Japan, Hikari Tsushin, Matsushita, Mitsui & Co., Nippon Telephone and Telegraph and Toyo Information Systems. Shinji Eura, president of TKK, reports to Don Taylor, vice president, international of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. Mr. Eura, together, with Mr. Taylor and Jeffrey C. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Tumbleweed, constitute three of the five members of TKK's board of directors.
About Tumbleweed Communications Corp.
Tumbleweed Communications Corp. is a leading provider of advanced e-mail solutions for business communications. Our products and services enable businesses to create and manage secure online communication channels that leverage established e-mail networks and enterprise applications. Tumbleweed Integrated Messaging Exchange is a platform and set of applications for creating secure communications channels between a business and its customers, partners, and suppliers. Tumbleweed Messaging Management System is a comprehensive solution that extends internal e-mail systems to the Internet through centralized security, policy enforcement, filtering and archiving. Used together, Tumbleweed IME and Tumbleweed MMS automatically apply security policies and redirect sensitive e-mail for secure, trackable delivery. Companies that rely on Tumbleweed IME or MMS products include American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Datek Online, Daiwa, the European Union's Joint Research Council, the Food and Drug Administration, Mitsui & Co., Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, Northern Trust, Pitney Bowes, TD Waterhouse, Travelers Property Casualty, UPS, and the United States Postal Service.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the potential growth of Tumbleweed and its subsidiaries. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as ``may,'' ``will,'' ``should,'' ``potential,'' ``continue,'' ``expects,'' ``anticipates,'' ``intends,'' ``plans,'' ``believes,'' ``estimates,'' and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form S-1 filed July 26, 2000, Form S-4 filed August 3, 2000 and Form 10Q filed August 14, 2000. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.
Note to Editors: Tumbleweed is a registered trademark and Integrated Messaging Exchange, IME, Messaging Management System and MMS are trademarks of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. |
