Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Suresnes, France - Nov 23, 2009 - Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 - GTO), the world leader in digital security and XIRING, a leader in smart card based strong authentication solutions for e-banking and e-commerce, today announced that they have entered into exclusive negotiations with the objective to complete the acquisition by Gemalto of the XIRING banking activity.



The proposed transaction concerns all of the current activities of the banking business unit of XIRING, with all the associated products, IP and technologies, as dedicated to EMV based strong authentication solutions for e-banking and e-commerce.



XIRING is a pioneer of EMV based strong authentication solutions for e-banking and e-commerce. The combination of the banking activity from XIRING with its own, would position Gemalto as a leader in EMV based strong authentication solutions for e-banking and e-commerce.



The transaction is expected to be completed by year end. Upon completion of the transaction, XIRING would continue to operate in its non-banking activities independently from Gemalto.



The two companies will not comment on the proposed transaction terms until the achievement of negotiation and legal processes and signature of a final and binding contract.





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About Gemalto



Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.



Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.



Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.



As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.



For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.



About XIRING



Created in 1998, XIRING is a security solutions provider and develops security software embedded in smart card readers for strong authentication and digital signature. XIRING has distributed over 10 million strong authentication solutions based on banking cards and compliant with MasterCard and Visa programs, and is the leader of the professional solutions market for the SESAM-Vitale French healthcare scheme. In 2008, XIRING posted a turnover of €28.5 million up 20% and an operating margin of €3.5 million up 62%. XIRING is listed on the Alternext compartment of the NYSE-Euronext Paris exchange since September 18, 2006. ISIN code: FR0004155612, Mnemonic: ALXIR.



More information: http://www.xiring.com