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Aladdin Knowledge Systems

Type	Private
Founded	1985
Founder(s)	Jacob (Yanki) Margalit and Tzvi Popowski
Headquarters	Tel Aviv, Israel
Key people	John Gunn, General Manager North America; Aviram Shemer, CFO; Ludger Wilmer, General Manager Europe
Industry	Security Software & Services
Products	eToken, eSafe, Hardlock, HASP
Revenue	▲ US$ 105.9 million (2007)
Operating income	▲ $ 13.911 million (2007)
Net income	▲ $ 14.888 million (2007)
Employees	464[1]
Website	www.Aladdin.com

eToken tokens from Aladdin Knowledge Systems

Aladdin Knowledge Systems (formerly NASDAQ: ALDN and TASE: ALDN) is a company that provides solutions for software digital rights management and Internet security since 1985. Its corporate headquarters are located in Tel Aviv, Israel.

History

Aladdin Knowledge Systems was founded in 1985 by Jacob (Yanki) Margalit, when he was just 23 years old; he was soon joined by brother Dany Margalit, who took the responsibility for product development at the age of 18, while at the same time completing a Mathematics and Computer Science degree in Tel Aviv University. In its early years the company developed two product lines, an artificial intelligence solution (which was dropped early on) and a hardware product to prevent unauthorized software copying, a type of solution later known as digital rights management. Yanki raised just $10,000 as an initial capital for the company. ^[2]

The digital rights management product became a success and by 1993 generated sales of $4,000,000. The same year that company had an initial public offering on NASDAQ raising $7,900,000.^[3] In 2004 the company's shares were also listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.^[4] By 2007 the company's annual revenues reached over $105 million.

In mid-2008, news broke that Vector Capital was attempting to purchase Aladdin. From the fall of 2008 to the official announcement in March 2009, intense talks were held between Vector Capital and Aladdin's founder, Yanki Margalit. Vector initially offered $14.50 per share, but Margalit refused the offer arguing that the company was worth more. Aladdin's shareholders agreed on the merger in February 2009 at $11.50 per share, in cash. In March 2009, Vector Capital acquired Aladdin and officially merged it with SafeNet. ^[5]

Corporate Timeline^[1]

• 1985 - Aladdin Knowledge Systems was established
• 1993 - Aladdin held an Initial Public Offering
• 1995 - Aladdin acquired the software protection business of EliaShim
• 1996 - Aladdin acquired the German company FAST
• 1998 - Aladdin patented USB smart card based authentication tokens
• 1999 - Aladdin acquired the eSafe content security business of EliaShim
• 2000 - Aladdin acquired 10% of Comsec
• 2001 - Aladdin acquired the ESD assets of Preview Systems
• 2005 - Aladdin completed second offering - 2,000,000 shares with net proceeds of $39m
• 2009 - Aladdin was acquired by Vector Capital and merged with Vector's SafeNet.

Products

DRM

Aladdin's HASP product line is a digital rights management (DRM) suite of protection and licensing solutions featuring a strong hardware-based system; it is the world's #1 software DRM solution with 40% market share, used by over 30,000 software publishers. It is used across many platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac) and vertical industry solutions. ^[6]

HASP, which stands for Hardware Against Software Piracy, was the company's first product and was initially purely a hardware solution, in later years it evolved into a complete digital rights management suite, that includes a software only option and a back office management application, in recent years also software as a service capability.

Internet security

In the late 1990's the company started diversifying and began offering Internet security and Network security products, offering two product lines:

Digital identity management

eToken, portable device for two-factor authentication, password and digital identity management, mainly deployed as a USB token.

Network Security

eSafe a line of integrated content security solutions, protecting networks against malicious, inappropriate and non-productive Internet-borne content.

External links

• Aladdin Knowledge Systems website
• Aladdin Prize granted by the Haifa Center of Law & Technology

See also

• Digital rights management
• Silicon Wadi

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Company Profile for Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd (ALDN)". http://www.zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=ALDN&page=quotesearch. Retrieved 2008-10-20.  
2. ^ Shohet, Dan, "Aladdin's Yanki Margalit: It's not personal", Globes 15 - 09 -2008, http://www.ivc-online.com/ivcWeeklyItem.asp?articleID=7672, retrieved 2009-11-16  
3. ^ "Aladdin completes flotation. (Aladdin Knowledge Systems finishes initial public offering on NASDAQ)", Israel Business Today Article date: October 29, 1993, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14668135.html  
4. ^ "Aladdin Knowledge Systems to Dual-List on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.", PR Newswire Article date: July 22, 2004, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-132339650.html  
5. ^ Shuster, Shmuel (March 2009). Vector completes Aladdin takeover. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1073750.html.  
6. ^ Miller, Zack, "March Stock of the Month: Aladdin Knowledge Systems (ALDN)", Israel Opportunity Investor, http://israelnewsletter.com/2008/03/12/march-stock-of-the-month-aladdin-knowledge-systems-aldn/