Feb 27, 2004 : VeriSign Completes Guardent Acquisition

📅 February 27, 2004 - VeriSign (verisign.com) announced on Friday that it has completed its acquisition of managed security service provider Guardent (guardent.com), a deal first agreed to in December of last year.

Under the terms of the agreement, VeriSign paid a total of $135 million, $65 million in cash and the remainder in stock. VeriSign said it will maintain Guardent's offices in Walthan, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, adding approximately 160 full-time employees. Guardent's security operations center in Providence will become one of VeriSign's managed security services operations centers.
Maria Cirino, formerly CEO of Guardent, will become senior vice president of managed security services at VeriSign, reporting to Judy Lin, executive vice president and general manager of VeriSign security services.
VeriSign said a detailed integration plan has been developed and approved by both companies. The combined business will have one of the largest active bases of network security devices under one roof, the company said.
VeriSign said in December that it expects the acquisition to be neutral to its 2004 earnings.