Sophos completes takeover offer of Utimaco Safeware AG

Issued by Me Talk Pretty for Sophos South Africa
Johannesburg, 02 Oct 2008

Sophos Plc, a global leader in endpoint security and control solutions, today announced that it has acquired the necessary level of Utimaco share capital to proceed with the voluntary public takeover of Utimaco Safeware AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange ISIN DE0007572406), a global leader in data security solutions for enterprises.

As anticipated and in accordance with the offer document, Sophos successfully acquired more than 75% of Utimaco Shares for a purchase price of EUR 14.75 per share as of 30 September 2008.

"Together our companies are exceptionally well-positioned to protect customer information and endpoints from both external and internal threats while also improving the manageability of security," said Steve Munford, CEO of Sophos.

"The enthusiastic customer and channel partner response that both Utimaco and Sophos have already received reinforces how strategic this move is for both companies."

Utimaco will form the core of a new business unit within Sophos focused on data security, under the leadership of Utimaco CEO Martin Wuelfert, with a mission to safeguard customers against intentional or unintentional loss of sensitive or confidential data.

"Utimaco has an outstanding leadership role in the global information protection market and will continue to focus on excellent solutions for our enterprise customers," said Martin Wuelfert, CEO of Utimaco. "We see this combination of two recognised industry leaders as very good news for our customers. Combining both companies' product innovation and development capacities and our joint global sales, marketing and support capacities will be game changing for the industry."

Sophos - the largest privately-held security company worldwide - previously announced results for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2008, with billings of $213.9 million, up 28% on the previous year. Utimaco recently announced 2007/2008 financial year (ending 30 June 2008) revenue results of EUR 59.2 million, an increase of 20% over the year prior. Further, Sophos now becomes the only company positioned by Gartner in the leaders' quadrants for both endpoint protection platform and mobile data protection, in addition to receiving a positive rating in the Gartner MarketScope for network access control.

Sophos intends to unveil its convergence roadmap and future security and control vision in the next 30 days.

Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control the use of their IT infrastructure and information. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, Web and e-mail solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognised for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com. Utimaco Safeware - The Data Security Company Celebrating 25 years in business, Utimaco is a leading global provider of data security solutions, enabling mid- to large-size organisations to safeguard their data assets against intentional or accidental data loss, and to comply with privacy laws. Utimaco's complete range of data security solutions provide full 360-degree data protection for data at rest, data in motion and data in use. Utimaco offers its customers comprehensive on-site support via a worldwide network of certified partners and subsidiaries. Utimaco Safeware, with headquarters in Oberursel, near Frankfurt, Germany, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE0007572406). For more information, please visit www.utimaco.com.

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