Symantec Corp. will pay US$1.28 billion to acquire VeriSign’s authentication business.
The two companies confirmed the rumored acquisition Wednesday, saying that they will discuss the acquisition at a 1:30 p.m. Pacific conference call.
Reports surfaced Tuesday, claiming that VeriSign had been shopping its encryption technology and service business recently, and naming Symantec as the buyer.
“With the combined products and reach from Symantec and VeriSign, we are poised to drive the adoption of identity security as the means to provide simple and secure access to anything from anywhere, to prevent identity fraud and to make online experiences more user-friendly and hassle-free,” Symantec CEO Enrique Salem said in a statement.
The VeriSign business unit sells two-factor authentication tokens, fraud detection and public key infrastructure products for government and the enterprise.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by September.