F-Secure Acquires Steek Online Backup and Storage for €27.5M in Cash, with Further Payment of €2.5M in 2010 Based on Performance

July 15, 2009

Acquisition to strengthen F-Secure’s value added service offering and competitiveness with operators globally.

Helsinki, Finland - F-Secure Corporation today announces the acquisition of Steek SA, a leading European software provider for online storage and data management solutions to fixed line and mobile operators. Steek SA is recognized for its services that enable consumers to store, share and manage personal digital content with PCs and mobile phones.

The acquisition further strengthens F-Secure’s position as the leading Software as a Service (SaaS) partner for operators globally. Both the acquired solutions and operator partnerships are highly complementary to F-Secure’s existing business. The combined operations extend F-Secure’s growth opportunities within the rapidly developing fixed and mobile broadband services market.

Kimmo Alkio, President and CEO of F-Secure Corporation said: ”By bringing the Steek technology and operator partnerships into F-Secure, we are further strengthening our competitive position in Software as a Service markets. This acquisition is a natural step in F-Secure’s strategy to broaden our Value Added Service (VAS) offerings to consumers. The rapidly developing online storage market gives us great opportunity to accelerate our operator revenue growth.  This acquisition strongly supports our pursuit of driving innovation and growth for internet related services.”

During the second half of 2009 (after the consolidation) the acquisition is estimated to improve the Group’s operator revenues by EUR 2-3 million and be slightly EPS dilutive. In the long term the management estimates that the acquisition will improve the Group’s operator revenues significantly and it is estimated to be EPS accretive already during 2010.

Under the terms of the agreement, the cash and debt free purchase price is EUR 27.5m. In addition, F-Secure may pay in 2010 an additional purchase price of a maximum of EUR 2.5m based on the performance of the acquired business. The transaction price will be paid in cash and financed with the company’s liquid assets. The acquisition has been signed and closed. The acquired company will be consolidated to the Group from the beginning of July 2009.

Steek SA was founded in 2002 in Bordeaux, France and was privately owned by Venture Capital firms Innovacom, AGF Private Equity and the management.  Steek has an operator centric strategy to develop and deliver online storage and data management related software services for the individual consumer and for small and medium-sized businesses. Its operator partner network includes SFR (France), Virgin Media (UK), TDC (Denmark), Singtel (Singapore) and Terra (Spain) that have all together more than 2.2 million active users. As a growth company Steek’s 2008 revenues grew over 300% to EUR 2.5m and showed a net loss of EUR 0.7m. The company currently employs 50 people. 

About F-Secure Corporation 
Innovation, reliability and speed of response - these are the qualities that have made F-Secure one of the world’s leading IT security providers since the company was founded in 1988. Today F-Secure’s award-winning and easy-to-use products are trusted in millions of homes and businesses around the world. We provide powerful real-time protection that works quietly and smoothly in the background, so computer and smartphone users can enjoy the benefits of connected life to the full. F-Secure’s solutions are available as a service subscription through more than 180 Internet service providers and mobile operator partners around the world, making F-Secure the global leader in this market. F-Secure has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd since 1999. The company has consistently been one of the fastest growing publicly listed companies in the industry. The latest news on real-time virus threat scenarios is available at the F-Secure Data Security Lab weblog at http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/.

For addtional information, please contact:

Media contact:
Hetta Huittinen
Tel. +358 40 033 9597
E-mail: firstname.lastname@f-secure.com
http://www.f-secure.com

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F-Secure Pays €27.5 Million For French Storage Startup Steek