Tumbleweed acquires Valicert

Security solutions provider Tumbleweed Communications Corp., Redwood City, Calif. has completed its acquisition of Valicert Inc., Tumbleweed announced June 23. The sale is estimated to be valued at $14.3 million.

Under terms of the deal, each Valicert share of common stock was converted into 0.385 of a share Tumbleweed stock. Valicert was located in Mountain View, Calif.

"The combination with Valicert strengthens our financial position, expands the breadth of product offerings, adds new infrastructure and support for servicing our customers and grows our market share, particularly among large customers," said Jeffrey Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Tumbleweed Communications.

Tumbleweed sells firewalls, spam filters and message encryption solutions. Tumbleweed's government customers include the Food and Drug Administration, the Marine Corps, the Navy and the Postal Service.

For 2002, Tumbleweed reported $25.5 million in revenue and a $20.9 million loss, according to Hoover's Online of Austin Texas. It employs about 130 people.

Valicert sold authentication software for file transfers. Its government customers included the state of Washington and agencies within the Defense Department. For 2002, the company reported $12.2 in revenue, with a net loss of $21.7 million.