CyberGuard Corporation Acquires Webwasher AG; Transaction Adds Fast-Growing Spam Blocking and Content Filtering Company to CyberGuard Portfolio.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers FORT LAUDERDALE Fort Lauderdale (lô`dərdāl), residential, commercial, and resort city (1990 pop. 149,377), seat of Broward co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled around a fort built (c.1837) in the Seminole War, inc. 1911. , Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2004 CyberGuard Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CGFW), the technology leader in network security, today announced that it is acquiring German high-end content security vendor Webwasher AG. Under the terms of the agreement, which was signed yesterday, CyberGuard will pay $40 million in cash and CyberGuard shares and up to an additional $10 million on a contingent basis for all of the shares of Webwasher. Webwasher will operate as a wholly owned division of CyberGuard. "Adding this fast-growing secure content management (SCM (1) (Software Configuration Management, Source Code Management) See configuration management. (2) See supply chain management. ) company clearly shows that we are executing on our strategic vision of becoming a broad-based security company focused on delivering solutions aimed at Global 1000 companies and government customers around the world," said Pat Clawson, chairman and chief executive officer of CyberGuard. "Webwasher is the number one Web filtering Blocking access to unwanted Internet content. Businesses can block content based on traffic type. For example, Web access might be allowed, but file transfers may not. Content can also be blocked by site, using lists of URLs cataloged by content that are updated frequently. provider in Germany and holds 40 percent of the market in Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe. . More than 30 Fortune 500 companies, including Motorola, Texas Instruments See TI. (company) Texas Instruments - (TI) A US electronics company. A TI engineer, Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Three TI employees left the company in 1982 to start Compaq. and Sprint, use their SCM solution. In addition to enhancing our security offering, this acquisition shows our commitment to growth and expansion in key world markets - the US, Germany and Japan." CyberGuard anticipates that the transaction will be accretive to earnings per share in the 12 months following closing. The purchase price will be paid $8 million in cash and the remainder in stock. An earn-out provision allows for up to an additional $10 million in stock subject to Webwasher achieving certain revenue and profit targets through CyberGuard's fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. Webwasher achieved $7.7 million in revenues in 2003, more than doubling their revenues for the prior year, and continued to show strong revenue growth for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. Venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] Siemens Venture Capital, Invision and TecVenture, who backed Webwasher as it built its business, are the primary sellers. "We are creating a broad-spectrum security offering of enterprise-class, best-of-breed technologies. Webwasher has designed the world's best content, spam, URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. and e-mail filtering Email filtering is the processing of e-mail to organize it according to specified criteria. Most often this refers to the automatic processing of incoming messages, but the term also applies to the intervention of human intelligence in addition to artificial intelligence, and to into a single, integrated solution," stated Clawson. "The latest blended threats and worms like Bagle can only be stopped effectively by a combination of application firewall plus application layer content filtering See Web filtering and parental control software. . Together, our products comprise a very compelling joint offer." "We are very excited about this transaction," stated Dr. Horst Joepen, chief executive officer of Webwasher. "We have made Webwasher a technology leader in the content security space and the leading European-based vendor. Joining forces with a leading US security partner that matches our positioning of focusing on customers who require the very highest level of security is a major step forward. The combination with CyberGuard, a true technology leader in firewalls and VPNs, enables us to serve our target markets, customers and channels worldwide on a much stronger financial basis. This transaction opens up incredible new opportunities and markets for the combined CyberGuard and Webwasher entity and its product suite." Joepen added that the two companies complement each other because they share a number of common traits. "Both our firms come from a large corporate background, having spun out of global engineering and technology leaders, Harris Corporation Harris Corporation NYSE: HRS is an international communications equipment company that produces wireless equipment, electronic systems, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense, and commercial sectors. from the US and Siemens AG Siemens AG German electrical-equipment manufacturer. The first Siemens company, Siemens & Halske, was founded in Berlin in 1847 to build telegraph installations. of Germany. These corporate parents laid the foundation for staying at the cutting edge of technology R&D and providing a highly discerning customer environment that gives us unique insights into the needs of high-end user organizations. There is a perfect fit between our teams as we work together going forward to even better satisfy our customers." "Webwasher is an excellent acquisition for CyberGuard," stated Brian Burke For the hockey executive, see . Brian Thomas Burke (born in Perth, 25 February 1947) was premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988. In 1994, Burke was imprisoned for seven months after being convicted of rorting travel expenses. , research manager at industry research firm IDC, which showed Webwasher to be the fastest growing Web filtering provider in a recent report. "We believe Webwasher brings a unique approach to an emerging market segment. In addition to their unique ability to centralize virus scanning and Internet policy enforcement for several protocols under a single management interface, the fact that Webwasher can monitor HTTPS (1) (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) The protocol for accessing a secure Web server. Using HTTPS in the URL instead of HTTP directs the message to a secure port number rather than the default Web port number of 80. (hyper text transfer protocol that requires an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. or secure sockets layer (networking, security) Secure Sockets Layer - (SSL) A protocol designed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide secure communications over the Internet using asymmetric key encryption. connection) further differentiates them from traditional SCM vendors who only focus on the Web and/or e-mail. Considering the increasing amount of encrypted traffic moving in and out of an organization, IDC believes that SCM solutions which address HTTPS will be an essential component for organizations that use the Internet and e-mail as part of their daily business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets . This will be especially important in financial and healthcare industries so organizations can safely exchange sensitive information while ensuring compliance with government regulations." The Web filtering and e-mail security market is projected by IDC to have a 31 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR CAGR See: Compound Annual Growth Rate ) from 2002 to 2007, expanding from $506 million in 2002 to $1.93 billion in 2007. IDC projects that the appliance-based secure content management market will grow from $109 million to $1.6 billion over that same period for a 70 percent CAGR. Conference Call Information CyberGuard will discuss the acquisition during a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific Time), on Monday, April 26, 2004. To participate, please dial 706-645-9750 and ask for conference ID number 7075557. A recording of the conference call proceedings will be available two hours after the call's conclusion on April 26 until midnight Eastern Time on May 4, 2004. Both U.S. and international callers may listen to the recording by dialing 706-645-9291 and requesting conference ID number 7075557. About CyberGuard Corporation CyberGuard Corporation (NASDAQ: CGFW), the technology leader in network security, provides advanced Total Stream Protection(TM) solutions that protect the critical information assets of Global 2000 companies and governments worldwide. CyberGuard offers a broad line of scalable high performance firewall/VPN appliances, sophisticated security processors and accelerator products for the SSL and IPsec markets, and industry leading embedded Linux The Linux operating system configured and enhanced to work in a wide variety of applications, including handheld devices, network appliances, industrial machines and consumer electronics devices. The modularity of the Linux kernel makes it well suited to embedded systems. and Linux security solutions. Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the company has branch offices and training centers around the world. More information about CyberGuard Corporation can be found at http://www.CyberGuard.com. About Webwasher Webwasher AG, a technology spin-off from Siemens AG, is a privately held provider of Internet security solutions for corporations, educational institutions and government agencies. Webwasher develops and markets innovative products for the growing content security management/policy enforcement tool market, and has been named the fastest-growing provider of Web filtering solutions by research firm IDC. Products include standalone and integrated solutions for Internet content security and filtering, including URL filtering, e-mail and spam filtering, virus protection, SSL filtering, Instant Message/Peer-to-Peer blocking and Internet usage reporting. Webwasher products are deployed by more than 6000 companies worldwide, including more than 30 Fortune 500 companies. Webwasher has established reseller and strategic partnerships with major organizations including Network Appliance, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Computer Associates and Network Associates. More information about Webwasher can be found at http://www.Webwasher.com. Forward-Looking Statements Statements regarding estimates, expectations and future prospects contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of current conditions, future developments, and other factors the Company believes are appropriate in the circumstances, or information obtained from third parties, and are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and that actual results might differ materially from those suggested in the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that might cause future actual events to differ from those predicted or assumed include: future advances in technologies and computer security; the Company's history of losses; the Company's ability to execute on its business plans; the Company's dependence on outside parties such as its key customers and alliance partners; competition from major computer hardware, software, and networking companies; uncertainties in availability of expansion capital in the future and other risks associated with capital markets; overall network security spending; global economic conditions; and the outcome of a class action lawsuit class action lawsuit A lawsuit in which one party or a limited number of parties sue on behalf of a larger group to which the parties belong. For example, investors may bring a class action lawsuit against a brokerage firm that has actively promoted a tax against the Company. For a more complete discussion regarding forward-looking statements, the reader is referred to the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including the Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, and other information filed with the Commission. CyberGuard(R) is a registered trademark and Total Stream Protection(TM) is a trademark of CyberGuard Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
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