WISeKey completes the first phase of the acquisition of arago by taking 
controlling interest 
 
   Zug/Geneva, Switzerland -- November 19, 2020 -- WISeKey International 
Holding Ltd ("WISeKey") (SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity company and 
arago GmbH ("arago"), a leading German technology company that provides 
Artificial Intelligence ("AI") to enterprises globally through Knowledge 
Automation, announced today that they reached a binding agreement for 
WISeKey to acquire, through conversion of loan commitments and 
guaranteeing the arago existing indebtedness, a majority interest of 51% 
in arago. Previous transactions involving shares in arago have 
determined arago's net value at around CHF 100 million. 
 
   The acquisition of a controlling interest in arago is the initial step 
in an overall transaction which would lead to a combination of the 
businesses of WISeKey and arago. As set out in the non-binding term 
sheet previously announced, the combination would be completed through 
the issuance by WISeKey of new Class B shares to arago's remaining 
minority shareholder against contribution by arago's minority 
shareholder of the remaining arago shares to WISeKey. arago's remaining 
shareholder would then hold a significant minority stake in WISeKey. The 
transaction is subject to the parties agreeing on definitive agreements, 
including the respective relative valuations. The subsequent completion 
of definitive agreements would, among other things, be conditional upon 
obtaining the required regulatory and other standard authorizations, 
including the listing of the new WISeKey Class B shares. 
 
   arago has a large recurring customer base and licensing model which is 
expected to bring significant synergies to WISeKey and strengthen 
WISeKey's position in the fast-growing Artificial Intelligence of Things 
("AIoT") market. The ability to authenticate and remotely manage 
millions of networked, automated devices and equipment is becoming 
pervasive: from the factory floor, to the hospital operating room, to 
the residential home, everything from refrigerators, watches and 
wearables, to wine bottles, is connecting and communicating via the 
Internet. The Internet of Things ("IoT") security market is expected to 
reach nearly USD 29 billion in 2020 according to 'Markets and Markets', 
growing at an annual rate of 35%. These massively deployed connected 
objects are facing regular attacks, hence generating a large need for 
trusted end-to-end cybersecurity solutions. The increasing AI and IoT 
convergence is one of the primary factors that is driving the growth of 
the market. Over the past five years, a rapid surge in the adoption of 
AIoT cloud services has been witnessed. It is driven by its capabilities 
to provide enterprise-wide array of resources they can utilize to scale, 
orchestrate, and support their operations. 
 
   About arago: 
 
   arago GmbH, Frankfurt am Main (AG Frankfurt, HRB 100909), is a German 
technology private company which aim is to provide the benefits of 
Artificial Intelligence to enterprise customers globally through 
Knowledge Automation. Founded in 1995, the company develops and uses 
modern technologies such as inference and machine learning in order to 
automatically operate any business process. 
 
   About WISeKey: 
 
   WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global 
cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity 
ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT 
respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey 
microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping today's Internet 
of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.5 billion 
microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, 
drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, 
servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.). WISeKey is 
uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors 
produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial 
Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the 
failure of their equipment before it happens. 
 
   WISeKeys' technology is trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey's Swiss based 
cryptographic Root of Trust ("RoT") and provides secure authentication 
and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the 
Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey 
RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online 
transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more 
information, visit 
https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=jAn_DCz3-WJqx1vxUB5wVl3Y0KPSHS4_O070Bs-zTv3ccBA6wi6XDELW6uJ51Qv5RpHBscRXF6DwuMQ8p5HYPvv7d0Kwub3s_lNwg5-xhEZgfTreXoiAPxVBcQf2gIWmC0hHYDEVfr2boDUt32T_qdAP8b9FThmH032PQV9McixPUaynV-19_mSIjd6Kx8E5D_Oc5wX8Dz1nWD9XMi-Nv5h1x9Uyov963v81MqIXO6yE6AfdBQIKXFEvcaiLVCrAzS7_APOg_DJMXVs9SzFIZI0AiRCUYAVUWz07Ih0DQi_CdESRJmQE7XlGtY4y5brwLUE3REk3HNmiGHRrlOq-4IaG2ZtRhEe8PdziY3NBaTL2AcXf0I9NPD06_QlQkEKmfp0f2RMH2ZrP_-c4wPxVHltwGrYPe1UwOw4_nEyoRPw2bQFlxezeni-ALRs0oM4V_94A9UCW9VESNoTUGLROA2CyHhRwAWZFp4LDM1Ly4wnk51-RnVYSFzit77oT0I-3eP4UJYgaIqi1U955B2GAPlQKUQ31tE7iDciajdwlLZUD3_RwWpog19gUya1A85D_BMwFYNuWyv49NAR4YVZACZ3hxNFfbDb_69Mo-9ttKIdWCeRflcc1_hn2t799JYzJhumUEj-owvmBHwIAfpGwt1_C8r6IX9X2N5FDI2nxhWLbcNGeZMuF_ZiZ0151VCEm5NHclDYO1LbdMD6mCqWMei_elKznel0HcqD8pLKYovxrtI_TRvtopiq5ygzDGD--nFKfW66xltoFGLQYmPcnhNgliy9Bb6GmWJCjRqab018QbKvX_QphEJrhX1JsYvZowsJTC79Rb15Ea4vuwPYAvgA5B29pJ-QTFJORonk90gTAR7n18h_gGNpHL0zU1uYGHlNIxdb2ObeHNtMl2kFbO1mObbBpB0tHZUaxOEMyQ0IkP6zLON5mE2qIdf9oIfUneIOIYTROzEf7oX6NPV1PbpewG8LcWINKmIRCNZcNYr8NY7KW_3uQ7K_URIK_QxaWXUBHBbLmbZorfPgJJye8Erh9PGblYONpeoWKVxKGpThHs3QHMV5dYKCvy3VYB-cDj3kJjZd64nHbC2Qtm1oXHMNThU5XXCk5IgoapJ1HuH6o_qlFyteU5rnFKYHJHvzMWkgukGZJO6lqb7Xt5uhJ7Q187tuowe1rRsAYhmnAWsWqZYlDMBK-kwCOZCG7XgBZpGY_LurN0T3dKhXFX-WD5wtWKwOfe_OyusWH4_Y5hfzm1m1xbjfDrCb0-FCCrJIb4O025T2hMI8QFdScxIN0bwSHRh-oyl6I0zsllHpB2w2XxHGy2vdcJuMg_4SvAFNvHC_uVc8G5v4leyLTS5sSMwrxPBJxiOuLAGJMNeCmD8c2IIJeVMrTqAKa8RX6SPTflPjMlgAQqwSY7glq_zAPaSjl8F7RwLhHJYwh6nd77X5MR-h0Zp9q6uWuEC-K-lh6Wh-5MOxZpQApsyT65aZc8UYtZqBkRrh0ikZVNmsgBgjescyIcBIaFhLtZchREUyksipV58uMZYXw_NWqFzm3_B5IffinNC-Ca0QaVlZbYv6yoKtVKyMQwlfwEv2ZKCHMHvQPK7hFQ6xfjjwJV1WVTNi3bXQ4tnMwwKWYCTUUsMNTQwxjw5smWAN7_3d9V1VSSejFV2igNMCI6RS0yYd7Lponk8v9MrLSqbcDl3zg81w8FC_Dj4omV85JAlKH2CgcbQn5m9OzKZa8mCab1ngSeAbCSnfiXX3qozGpJ8-piXBHS7mmFavOCxuEihekIxfUkanF-xCldxwYu4fge-7pN2a8WE_4XPPzEakdD5R6fCRNYAiP4RpLTD7ulp7TjyTtAuX1aKgv-Ab4nMgk15fUWaat4jb8ptSnWgW2hNsyyehXJi_k9qZvOEXncQepLOymu205WN82nzZKJjuXQRMr2QZVuJsYybXwo_1JbJHa61JtdP-YRiGiRHE7KI2u-jw956ngk35zNu-hA08B2QxROa6MrkZMkrN_Uv4a6LCwXkaEvHtfn7OrHDygn4lkudamybiVvII-YRBBeXi6ieWkBzE6q6zxWFzb3FG--PUgk04PHXAC0BSogX3S-Vb7m5F0 
www.wisekey.com. 
 
   Press and investor contacts: 
 
 
 
 
WISeKey International Holding                WISeKey Investor Relations (US) 
 Ltd                                          Contact: Lena Cati 
 Company Contact: Carlos Moreira              The Equity Group Inc. 
 Chairman & CEO                               Tel: +1 212 836-9611 
 Tel: +41 22 594 3000                         mailto:lcati@equityny.co lcati@equityny.co 
 mailto:info@wisekey.com info@wisekey.com 
-----------------------------------------    ------------------------------------------- 
 
 
   This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain 
forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd 
and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown 
risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual 
results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey 
International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future 
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such 
forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is 
providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to 
update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of 
new information, future events or otherwise. 
 
   This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a 
solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not 
constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of the Swiss 
Financial Services Act ("FinSA") or advertising within the meaning of 
the FinSA, or within the meaning of any other securities regulation. 
Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its 
securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained 
herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to 
the future performance of WISeKey. 
 
   The securities offered will not be, and have not been, registered under 
the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be 
offered or sold in the United States, absent registration or an 
applicable exemption from the registration requirements of said Act.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2020 01:00 ET (06:00 GMT)