Utimaco welcomes Sophos as new Major Shareholder

Oberursel, 2nd October 2008 – According to the announcement of Sophos Holdings GmbH as of 30th September 2008, all conditions of the voluntary public takeover offer by Sophos Holdings GmbH, published on 21st August 2008, were satisfied at the end of the acceptance period on 29th September 2008, at midnight Central European Daylight. Following the expiration of the acceptance period it was already certain that the minimum acceptance threshold of 50.5% of Utimaco´s share capital was reached on 30th September 2008, according to Sophos. Including the shares of Umbrella Acquisitions GmbH, Sophos holds a stake of above 75% in the Utimaco share capital.

Within the announcement as of 22nd September 2008, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Utimaco recommended to the shareholders to accept the voluntary public takeover of Sophos. It is planned, that Utimaco will form the core of a new business unit within Sophos focused on information protection, under the leadership of Utimaco CEO Martin Wuelfert, with a mission to safeguard customers against intentional or unintentional loss of sensitive or confidential data.

"Utimaco has an outstanding leadership role in the global information protection market and will continue to focus on excellent solutions for our enterprise customers," said Martin Wuelfert, CEO of Utimaco. "We see this combination of two recognized industry leaders as very good news for our customers. Combining both companies´ product innovation and development capacities and our joint global sales, marketing and support capacities will be game changing for the industry."

Utimaco Safeware AG – The Data Security Company.
With over 25 years of company history behind it, Utimaco is now one of the leading global manufacturers of data security solutions. The Data Security Company enables medium-sized and large organizations to safeguard their electronic assets against intentional or accidental data loss, and to comply with all currently applicable data protection regulations. Utimaco's complete range of solutions provides full 360 degree protection. SafeGuard solutions protect and manage data during storage (data at rest), during transmission (data in motion) and during processing (data in use). Utimaco offers its customers comprehensive on site support via a worldwide network of certified partners and subsidiaries. Utimaco Safeware AG, with headquarters in Oberursel, near Frankfurt, Germany, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE0007572406). For more information about Utimaco Safeware, go to: www.utimaco.de

Additional information:
Utimaco Safeware AG -
The Data Security Company.
http://www.utimaco.de
Jutta Stolp, CIRO
Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 6171 88 – 11 17
E-Mail: jutta.stolp@utimaco.de