Rival European PKI operators EuroTrust and WiseKey have merged their Swiss operations to create a joint venture company, SwissEtrust, designed to deliver digital authentication services to clients in Switzerland.
The two companies say that within the next six months, they will seek to raise $5 million for SwissEtrust by issuing new shares in the firm equal to up to 33 percent of the capital.
Under the agreement, Denmark-based EuroTrust has closed its branch office in Switzerland and transferred all employees to SwissEtrust. WiseKey has also transferred several members of its senior staff to SwissEtrust
With the formation of the joint venture, SwissEtrust has 15 employees and projects $5 million in revenues for 2002.
Brian Mertz Pedersen, chief operating officer of EuroTrust, says Switzerland is a potentially lucrative market due to the many activities in the country within the financial sector where security is a high priority.
"EuroTrust has gained very good results selling PKI-services in Switzerland, and with the knowledge and market experience of WiseKey, along with our ongoing relationship with VeriSign, we anticipate this joint venture will become both a market leader and a success in the Swiss market," he adds.