Internet security company acquires U.S. competitor

By Andrew Bushe

DUBLIN — Baltimore Technology, the Irish Internet company that provides security products for electronic commerce, has acquired the U.S. software company GTE Cyber Trust for $150 million.

Fran Rooney, chief executive, said the purchase of the Boston-based company, would be funded by stock.

Baltimore’s shares surged more than tenfold last year. It listed on the New York Nasdaq stock exchange in November and is also quoted on the London exchange where the shares soared by almost 25 percent on news of the takeover.

"It has been our intention for quite some time to increase our U.S. presence and this immediately gives us a very big footprint," Rooney said.

Rooney said Baltimore is one of the top three in the market and Cyber Trust was a competitor and about the fourth biggest.

"We are essentially putting three and four together," he said. "It puts us in the top two, maybe three, in the world at this stage."

Baltimore’s goal is to become the e-security company of the 21st century.

"Our industry is growing very rapidly," Rooney said. "We see there are huge opportunities going forward. We are always going to continue to grow organically, but, to get to the scale that we want, acquisitions are a very important part of our strategy."

The computer chip manufacturer Intel owns six percent of Baltimore, which employs more than 450 people worldwide.