Nov 22, 2010 20:25 GMT  ·  By

Novell, a multinational corporation specialized in management solutions and enterprise operating systems such as SUSE Linux Enterprise, will be acquired by Attachmate Corporation with the measly sum of 2.2 billion dollars. 

Attachmate Corporation enables IT organizations to extend mission critical services and assures they are managed, secure and compliant, and is the property of an investment group led by Golden Gate Capital, Thoma Bravo and Francisco Partners.

"This acquisition will add significant assets to our current portfolio holdings and the Novell and SUSE brands will allow us to deliver even more value to customers,", said Jeff Hawn, chairman and CEO of Attachmate Corporation. "We have great respect for Novell's business, its employees and its commitment to customers. Moreover, we look forward to maintaining and further strengthening Novell and SUSE solutions to meet market demands."

The transaction has yet to be finalized as it has to pass the scrutiny of customary closing conditions (antitrust issues to be solved). Novell will cease to be an independent company most probably by the end of the first quarter of 2011. Another snag in the way of this huge transaction is another deal Novell has made with CPTN Holdings LLC, in which the latter has acquired certain intellectual property assets.

"We believe the transaction with Attachmate Corporation will deliver important benefits to Novell's customers, partners and employees by providing opportunities for building on Novell's history of innovation and market leadership," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell, according to marketwatch.com. 

Ron Hovsepian  also added that "Novell, SUSE, Attachmate and NetIQ have complementary product portfolios and many shared customers. We are pleased that Attachmate has committed to building on the strengths of the Novell and SUSE brands to address customer needs."

After this transaction is completed, Attachmate Corporation will manage a portfolio consisting of Attachmate, NetIQ, Novell and SUSE.