Tag: Stratton Sclavos

Seven down, five to go for VeriSign

-Contact Thomas Rasmussen

After accounting for a dime of every dollar spent on M&A in 2008, divestitures appear likely to be a thriving business again in 2009. They accounted for 11% of the total M&A spending last year, up from 7% in 2007. And respondents to our annual Corpdev Outlook Survey said they were twice as likely to expect the pace of divestitures to increase than decrease this year. This is especially true for larger companies, some of which have overindulged on M&A throughout the years.

In the world of tech divestitures, there is no better example of this than VeriSign. The naming and encryption giant has been working toward selling off billions of dollars worth of properties that ousted CEO Stratton Sclavos picked up during his multiyear shopping spree. The company announced its first divestiture of 2009 last week, the sale of its European messaging division 3united mobile Solutions. That move follows the sale of its remaining stake in Jamba in October 2008 and the divestiture of its inCode communications and post-pay billing divisions in November and December, respectively.

For those of you keeping score, VeriSign has now completed seven deals, with five still to go. But as is becoming grudgingly apparent to the company and many others in the same position, this is easier said than done. The current economic environment is not exactly ideal for divestitures or spinoffs. And shedding the remaining parts, especially its bloated communications and messaging divisions, has proven to be quite a challenge for the company since they most likely command a much higher price tag, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars. VeriSign says there are strategic buyers, but the closed credit market and general economic anxiety are severely hampering potential deals.

A chronicle of VeriSign’s seven divestitures

Date Acquirer Unit Note
February 2009 Sinon Invest Holding 3united Mobile Solutions Acquired for $66m in 2006
December 2008 Convergys Post-pay billing business
November 2008 Management buyout inCode Wireless Acquired for $52m in 2006
May 2008 MK Capital Kontiki Acquired for $58m in 2006
April 2008 Melbourne IT Digital Brand Management Services business Sold for $50m
April 2008 Globys Self-care and analytics business
June 2007 Sedo.com GreatDomains.com business

Source: The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase

Half-billion-dollar communications division up for grabs

Newly appointed interim VeriSign CEO Jim Bidzos is picking up where former CEO Bill Roper left off. In a recent conference call, Bidzos (who founded the company) reiterated VeriSign’s plan to shed many of the businesses picked up by the company’s longtime chief executive, Stratton Sclavos. (The acquisition-frenzied CEO inked more than a half-dozen deals in both 2005 and 2006, in addition to several headline-grabbing purchases at the height of the Internet bubble.) We believe VeriSign’s next divestiture is imminent, with the sale of its Communications Services division likely to go through shortly.

We have speculated on this in the past, but some recent developments suggest that a sale is close at hand. VeriSign placed the division in discontinued operations a few months ago, according to recent SEC filings. The unit, which provides communications services such as connectivity, interoperability and mobile commerce, is the largest and most profitable of the company’s non-core business segments. It pulled in $568m for the previous year, ending June 30. That’s down from $579m for calendar year 2007 and $804m in 2006. The decline is mostly related to VeriSign’s divestiture of Jamba, since sales in the rest of the division have been flat. That stagnation stands in contrast to VeriSign’s core business, the Internet Infrastructure and Identity Services division, which increased revenue 20% in the most recent quarter.

As to who might be interested in VeriSign’s Communications Services division, we have learned that there is at least one strategic buyer at the table. In fact, a deal was supposed to be signed, sealed and revealed with the company’s second-quarter earnings. But the transaction was delayed when the potential acquirer took a closer look due to the continued softness in the economy. We expect the divestiture to close soon. The most obvious strategic buyer of the unit is a big telecom shop – namely, Verizon or AT&T. Private equity has also expressed interest in the unit. But since the mystery bidder is said to be strategic, we believe a telco will likely end up as the new owner of VeriSign’s Communications Services unit for a price in the neighborhood of $1bn.

VeriSign’s communications acquisition binge

Date Target Deal value
November 27, 2006 inCode Wireless $52m
March 20, 2006 m-Qube $250m
March 13, 2006 Kontiki $62m
February 13, 2006 3united Mobile Solutions $65.5m
January 11, 2006 CallVision $30m
January 10, 2005 LightSurf Technologies $270m

Source: The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase