intarsys becomes part of procilon GROUP

Since its foundation in 1996, Karlsruhe-based software company intarsys has become one of the leading solution providers of electronic trust services including signatures, seals, time stamps, verification and preservation services as well as PDF/A implementations. The intarsys product suite is used by numerous companies and institutions, primarily in the German speaking region. intarsys’ founders Karl Kagermeier, Dr Bernd Wild and Michael Traut will remain with the company as minority shareholders, continuing in their operational roles. Additional support will be provided by procilon founder Steffen Scholz in the newly created position of Group CEO on an interim basis. The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction.

Karl Kagermeier, Managing Director of intarsys, explains that the decision to engage in a partnership with procilon was driven by the strategic rationale and opportunity for additional future growth, beneficial synergies, and an improved market position. "By offering our applications for electronic trust services, both procilon and intarsys are operating in a market that is becoming increasingly interesting for international players. Our deep knowledge of European security standards as well as the related technical and legal framework conditions, particularly with regard to PKI, offers a clear and sustained locational advantage which becomes even stronger as a combined Group."

"With procilon and intarsys, two companies are joining forces that share a common passion and expertise," adds Steffen Scholz, Founder and Group CEO of procilon. "The product portfolios of both companies complement each other perfectly, allowing for a unique coverage of the current market requirements. Through the combination, procilon’s project experience complements intarsys‘ widely used standard solutions. This results in interesting synergy potentials as well as significantly improved market prospects for the combined Group."

"In addition to the ongoing trend of digitisation, we are also observing an increasing focus on compliance requirements, particularly with regard to information security, data protection and legal regulations. The secure electronic signature has become one of the most powerful instruments in the toolbox of digitisation," says Gregor Harald May, Managing Partner of HQIB. "With the acquisition of intarsys, we have succeeded in implementing our strategy of expanding procilon by adding complementary products and technologies. We consider further takeovers and strategic investments in the future."

About intarsys
intarsys, founded in 1996 in Karlsruhe as a consulting company in the banking environment, has since then developed into one of the leading manufacturers of software and solutions around electronic signatures, authentication, and PDF/A. The PDF library ‚jPod‘, which is also available as open source, still forms the premise for the signature and PDF product lines. With the BSI certification of a signature application component according to Common Criteria obtained in 2008, intarsys created the prerequisites for the currently successful product line Sign Live! cloud suite gears.

The more than 1,000 customers also include trust centres in German-speaking countries. For Swisscom, essential components of the remote signature service All-In Signing Service were developed which customers use to quickly and conveniently sign or timestamp their documents and files online. Many well-known companies rely on signature and PDF software of the Karlsruhe solution specialist. Further information can be found at www.intarsys.de.

About Harald Quandt Industriebeteiligungen
Harald Quandt Industriebeteiligungen GmbH is an investment initiative of the Harald Quandt family and a small number of selected (industrial) families and partners. HQIB acquires and sustainably develops small- and medium-sized companies in the Germanspeaking region working in established, future-oriented and technologically demanding sectors with attractive growth potential. As an industrial holding, HQIB pursues a long-term and sustainable investment strategy and is not subject to any maturity restrictions or fixed holding periods. Further information can be found at www.hq-ib.com.