Cogent Files Registration Statement for Public Offering of Primary and Secondary Shares

Business Wire, May 16, 2005

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. -- Cogent Systems (Nasdaq:COGT) announced today it has filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed follow-on public offering of common stock. The filing provides for an offering of 11,000,000 shares, consisting of 4,000,000 primary shares offered by the company, with the remainder of the offering consisting of secondary shares offered by executive officers and stockholders of the company. In addition, one of the selling stockholders will grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to 1,650,000 additional shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. will serve as joint book-running managers for the offering, with Bear Stearns & Co., Inc., SG Cowen & Co., LLC and Needham & Company, LLC serving as co-managers.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

When available, a copy of the prospectus may be obtained from Morgan Stanley's prospectus department at 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036-8200, (212) 761-6775.

About Cogent Systems

Cogent is a leading provider of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems, or AFIS, and other fingerprint biometric solutions to governments, law enforcement agencies and other organizations worldwide. Cogent's AFIS solutions enable customers to capture fingerprint images electronically, encode fingerprints into searchable files and accurately compare a set of fingerprints to a database containing potentially millions of fingerprints in seconds.