January 13, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- International software developer Novell (novell.com) completed its acquisition of Linux software developer SUSE LINUX(suse.de) today in a $210 million cash deal.
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According to Novell, SUSE LINUX will become a product business unit within Novell, with the strong SUSE LINUX brand being maintained.
The company said the acquisition of SUSE Linux brings enterprises the technical support and services necessary to make successful Linux deployments.
"Combining Novell's global presence and deep knowledge of enterprise software with SUSE LINUX's powerful technology makes Novell one of the strongest options for enterprise Linux," said Jack Messman, chairman and CEO of Novell. "Novell's customers have long asked us to back Linux with our great networking software and technical support system. Now we're going even further - offering one of the top Linux distributions on the market. Customers interested in deploying Linux - whether in the data center or on the desktop - can now turn to Novell to get what they need."
Novell said the acquisition makes it the market's largest Linux vendor. Analysts say the acquisition of SUSE along with its August acquisition of Ximian, could position Novell as a major competitor for Red Hat, the industry's leading Linux software vendor.
"We're making a commitment to open source, not to a product we're selling," said Messman. "With SUSE LINUX and Ximian, we gain some of the best open source developers in the market, and we want to leverage those capabilities in our development efforts across the entire product line."
The company said the acquisition also fulfills the requirements for the completion of IBM's $50 million investment in Novell announced in early November. In addition, it allows for the extension of the existing commercial agreements between IBM and SUSE LINUX for the continued support of SUSE LINUX on IBM's eServer products
"2004 will be the year of Linux," said Richard Seibt, former CEO of SUSE LINUX who will join Novell and continue to manage SUSE LINUX as president. "Novell's global sales and support channels provide tremendous new avenues to get Linux - and especially SUSE LINUX - to market. Leveraging open source in your enterprise just got a whole lot easier."
