DigiCert Completes Purchase of QuoVadis, Expands European Presence and TLS, PKI Offerings

QuoVadis to continue operating as EU Qualified Trust Service Provider offering EU and Swiss Qualified digital certificate and electronic signature services

DigiCert, Inc., the world’s leading provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and other PKI solutions, completed its acquisition of the QuoVadis Group from WISeKey International Holding Ltd (SIX: WIHN), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company. QuoVadis is a Qualified Trust Service Provider (TSP) in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland.

DigiCert will continue to operate QuoVadis as an EU and Swiss TSP, specializing in Qualified digital certificates and related services for Europe, as well as enterprise managed PKI services. The acquisition aligns with DigiCert’s vision of providing the world’s most globally dispersed and robust PKI-based solutions with local support. QuoVadis has operations in Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Bermuda.

“We are excited to welcome the QuoVadis team and technology to DigiCert, as we look to continue to serve our partners and customers with industry-leading solutions,” said DigiCert CEO John Merrill. “The European market, like many parts of the world, has specific country and regional needs that can best be served with locally based teams and technology. The QuoVadis acquisition supports our commitment to Europe, combining our technology innovation with on-the-ground experts in the region.”

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With the acquisition, QuoVadis Qualified digital certificates will be backed by DigiCert, the world’s leading TLS and PKI provider featuring best-in-class technology and infrastructure. QuoVadis Qualified digital certificates comply with eIDAS, the European Union’s regulation on trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market, and may be used across borders of EU member states and in Switzerland. QuoVadis services include the following:

• Qualified certificates for Website Authentication (QWAC)
• Qualified personal certificates
• Qualified electronic time stamps
• Qualified electronic signatures and seals, including software and cloud signing options

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Under eIDAS, Qualified trust services provide legal certainty and increased security of electronic transactions. Beginning June 2019, the EU Payment Services Directive 2015/2366 will require banking and financial services companies doing business in the EU to use Qualified website certificates for stronger identity assurance. Through the QuoVadis acquisition, DigiCert will be able to provide these certificates to help organizations comply with the Payment Services Directive. DigiCert will also support QuoVadis’ plans to expand its technology footprint with an emphasis on migrating PKI services to datacenters in the Netherlands and Switzerland to provide customers with enhanced privacy and data protection services.

QuoVadis’ trustcenter operations are compliant with international standards and have received numerous accreditations including WebTrust, ISO and country-specific approvals.

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Additionally, through QuoVadis, DigiCert will become a leader in data integrity management for electronic records, digital signature technology for banking and e-invoicing applications, as well as remote digital signature solutions to enable signatures from any device. QuoVadis’ PrimoSign and other signing platforms implement roaming digital signatures in a cost-effective and highly scalable way for organizations of all sizes, from small organizations to the enterprise.

DigiCert is also leading its market with quantum-resistant encryption technology development in partnership with ISARA and Gemalto. Recently, DigiCert announced its commitment to strengthen the security of blockchain-based platforms and other identity initiatives. DigiCert and QuoVadis are longstanding members of the CA/Browser Forum and are active in the Cloud Signature Consortium.

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Additional QuoVadis datacenter assets remain subject to approval of the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda and are expected to transfer to DigiCert in the near future. Meantime, WISeKey will provide transition services to DigiCert for those assets.