VeriSign Inc. said it will acquire Santa Cruz, Calif.-based picture-messaging company LightSurf in an all-stock transaction valued at $270 million. VeriSign said the deal adds a picture component to its text and multimedia messaging offerings to carriers.
“We are very excited about the strategic value and cutting-edge capabilities that LightSurf adds to VeriSign’s Intelligent Communications, Commerce and Content (IC3) platform,” said Stratton Sclavos, VeriSign’s chairman and chief executive officer.
LightSurf, headed by longtime wireless entrepreneur Philippe Kahn, has been tagged as one of the pioneers of the picture-messaging market. The company sells its picture-messaging software to the likes of Sprint, Bell Mobility, Kodak, MmO2, Rogers Wireless, Microcell, Telecom New Zealand, Iusacell and Qwest. The company also works with handset manufacturers including Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Sanyo, LG International Corp. and Toshiba.
The agreement for VeriSign further bolster’s the company’s wireless offerings. VeriSign last year acquired Unimobile for around $5 million in its efforts to expand into the wireless arena.
“LightSurf’s vision and leadership with picture/video-messaging and MMS end-to-end-solutions can be leveraged by VeriSign to benefit both organizations,” said Kahn, who plans to stay on with VeriSign following the close of the transaction, according to reports.
VeriSign said it expects around $30 million in incremental revenues in 2005 from the acquisition. The company said the move wouldn’t affect its earnings per share this year, but will be “modestly accretive” next year. VeriSign plans to take on 250 LightSurf employees in Santa Cruz and Bangalore, India.
VeriSign’s stock was up slightly after the news to about $31.22 per share.
