Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : VeriSign (VRSN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patriarch who wrote (817)	12/20/1999 5:44:00 PM
From: Patriarch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1285

Verisign Inc. Reiterated `Buy' at Banc of America Princeton, New Jersey, Dec. 20 (Bloomberg Data) -- Verisign Inc. (VRSN US) was reiterated ``buy' by analyst Paul J. Dravis at Banc of America Securities.

To: Patriarch who wrote (817)	12/20/1999 5:49:00 PM
From: Patriarch	Respond to of 1285

VeriSign Buys Two Software Companies for $1.39 Bln Mountain View, California, Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- VeriSign Inc., a maker of Internet-security software, agreed to buy two closely held software companies for $1.39 billion in stock to broaden its product line for electronic commerce. VeriSign said it will buy Signio Inc. for 5.6 million shares, or $840.7 million. Signio makes software that links online retailers to payment processing companies. VeriSign also bought Thawte Consulting for stock valued at $575 million. Like VeriSign, Thawte makes software for computerized IDs, which keep online purchases and messages safe and private. With the Signio acquisition, VeriSign is looking to broaden its product line by offering payment services to online retailers, stockbrokers and other merchants. About half of its roughly 200,000 clients are looking for software that will link customer credit-card information to payment processors such as First Data Corp., the company said. ``They are expanding the scope of their business beyond the historic focus on identification to include payments,' said David Breiner, an analyst with Prudential Volpe, who rates the shares ``buy.' Mountain View, California-based VeriSign currently leases and manages software for issuing IDs known as digital certificates. Internet retailers and others license the software to secure orders and credit-card information sent over the Internet. The acquisitions should boost revenue by 10 percent to 15 percent on a pro forma basis next year, the company told analysts. VeriSign, which reported its first net income in the third quarter, expects to post operating profit again in the fourth quarter next year after the acquisitions are completed. Both South Africa-based Thawte and Redwood Shores, California-based Signio have about $1 million in annual sales, and they have a combined workforce of about 130, VeriSign Chief Executive Stratton Sclavos said. VeriSign had third-quarter sales of $22.8 million. Blow to Entrust Thawte is the No. 2 maker of digital certificates for Web sites behind dominant VeriSign, with about 10 percent market share. The acquisition may be a blow to VeriSign rival Entrust Technologies Inc., which licenses Thawte's technology for issuing Web site digital certificates through its upstart Entrust.net unit. VeriSign shares rose 19 3/16 to a record 150 1/8 and have climbed more than tenfold this year. Entrust shares fell 5 9/16 to 53 11/16. VeriSign ``now dominates the market worldwide for digital certificates used on the World Wide Web,' Sands Brothers & Co. Ltd. analyst David Zale said. Investors overreacted by sending Entrust's shares down, Entrust Vice President for Marketing Bob Heard said. Entrust's agreement with Thawte will continue for more than two years, Heard said, although he declined to provide more details. Plano, Texas-based Entrust is also pushing more into software for cell phones, two-way pagers, electronic organizers, and other wireless devices that can be used to access the Internet, an area in which it doesn't need Thawte's technology, Heard said. VeriSign expects the two acquisitions to be completed in the first or second quarter. VeriSign wants to enter the market for software for verifying transactions, which could be targeted to Internet companies that sell to businesses under complex terms. The company expects to reveal more details early in 2000, Sclavos said. VeriSign also leases the IDs to big companies that want to allow customers, business allies and remote employees to access corporate data over the Internet. Some analysts expect sales of security software to rise with the growing popularity of online shopping. Retail sales on the Internet are forecast to almost double this year to $5 billion, according to market researcher Jupiter Communications Inc.