VeriSign to Focus on its Traditional Businesses

VeriSign is exiting the business sector, instead opting to focus on its core businesses of running the .com and .net registries and securing online transactions.

The announcement was made during a conference for analysts in New York Wednesday. CEO Bill Roper said that the company had reviewed its business and made changes to improve returns for its shareholders.

Most of the units that it plans to divest itself of come from its communications services group, which included a consulting business and billing services for wireless carriers. Those businesses only make up about a third of total revenue.

"We have leadership positions in great businesses with high growth, attractive economic returns and significant barriers to entry," Roper said. Other officials told the press that VeriSign wanted to show investors that they were taking a different approach on how to grow the business.

Two options face the units to be shed. Initially, the company will try to sell off the businesses in order to recoup investments in those divisions. If a buyer is not found, the firm will likely shut down any unsold units.

VeriSign should be divested of all excess businesses within about 18 months. Once free of these units, the company will be essentially in the same market that it first started with at its founding in 1995.