HP filed to sell 250,000 VeriSign shares
March 22, 1999 03:57 PM
WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. HWP filed to sell 250,000 common shares of VeriSign Inc. worth nearly $30 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
HP said in the filing it acquired the stock in a November 1997 "business transaction" with VeriSign, a Mountain View, Calif., provider of trust services needed by web sites and others to conduct secure e-commerce and communications over the Internet.
In September 1996, electronic payment company VeriFone Inc. which subsequently became a unit of HP, filed a lawsuit against VeriSign alleging, among other things, trademark infringement, according to a VeriSign annual report filed last month with the SEC.
In November 1997, the three parties reached an agreement under which VeriSign issued 250,000 shares of its common stock and transferred them to HP, while VeriSign and VeriFone settled all claims, VeriSign's filing said.
The settlement amount was recorded in the third quarter of 1997 as a $2.0 million charge to operations, VeriSign said.
A spokeswoman with Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
HP is trading at $69.625, off more than $1 on the New York Stock Exchange, while VeriSign is up $1.125 to $118.50 on Nasdaq.
((Peter Ramjug, 202-898-8399)) REUTERS
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