Tumbleweed acquires control of Japanese subsidiary Tumbleweed Communications K.K.

Company increases ownership position from 50% to 55% in subsidiary jointly-owned with Hikari Tsushin

REDWOOD CITY, CA - June 12, 2000 - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), a leading provider of secure Internet communications solutions, announced today that it acquired an additional 5% of its jointly-owned Japanese subsidiary, Tumbleweed Communications K.K. (TKK), which it co-owns with Hikari Tsushin. The additional 5% interest in TKK increases Tumbleweed's ownership position in the subsidiary to 55%, which represents a controlling interest.

Effective immediately, Shinji Eura, president of TKK, will report to Don Taylor, vice president, international of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. Mr. Eura, together, with Mr. Taylor and Jeffrey C. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Tumbleweed, constitute three of the five members of TKK's board of directors.

Also effective with gaining control and in accordance with GAAP accounting, the company will consolidate the subsidiary's results in its current fiscal quarter and going forward. Previously, Tumbleweed used the equity method of accounting, which reflected only royalty revenues generated by its 50%-owned subsidiary and Tumbleweed's proportionate share of the subsidiary's operating loss. Consolidation of TKK's results in the second quarter will contribute to slightly higher revenue growth during the second quarter and fiscal year, as well as contribute to higher direct costs and operating expenses over the same time period.

"We're taking steps as a management team to accelerate revenue growth and bring in the timeframe to profitability," said Jeffrey C. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. "Acquiring control of TKK is an important part of the process. We've established a strong competitive position in Japan. Our customers and partners in Japan include ASP, Canon, Daiwa, Hikari Tsushin, HP Japan, Mitsui & Co., Matsushita, NTT, and Toyo Information Systems."

Conference Call
Tumbleweed Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:TMWD) will hold a conference call with the investment community at 2 p.m. Pacific time today to discuss anticipated financial results in 2000 and 2001. This conference call will be simultaneously webcast via StreetFusion. For information, see investor.tumbleweed.com. In addition, a telephonic replay of the call will be available at the same URL address for 30 days.

About Tumbleweed Communications Corp.
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of solutions for managing secure communication and collaboration to enable the business Internet. Tumbleweed's robust policy-based framework empowers organizations to safely share and protect critical information, increase customer loyalty and privacy and dramatically reduce costs. Tumbleweed is trusted by 1,000 blue-chip customers including American Express, Chevron, Datek Online, the European Union's Joint Research Council, First Union Wachovia, John Deere, Merrill Lynch, Nike, Northern Trust, NTT, Salomon Smith Barney, Travelers and US Food and Drug Administration. One hundred of the Fortune 500 are Tumbleweed customers. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., with offices around the world.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the security features of Tumbleweed's products and the activities of any third party. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form 10-K filed March 30, 2001 and Form 10-Q filed November 13, 2001. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.