Update: Attachmate to buy Novell for $2.2 billion

IDG News Service - Novell agreed on Monday to be acquired by Attachmate for $2.2 billion, ending months of speculation over its future.

The company has also agreed to sell certain intellectual property assets to CPTN Holdings, a technology consortium led by Microsoft, for $450 million in cash, a payment "reflected in the merger consideration to be paid by Attachmate."

Attachmate had been seen as a potential acquirer of the networking pioneer, but analysts wondered whether it could pay Novell's asking price.

Several firms, including VMware, were reportedly interested in acquiring the Novell assets.

"After a thorough review of a broad range of alternatives to enhance stockholder value, our board of directors concluded that the best available alternative was the combination of a merger with Attachmate Corp. and a sale of certain intellectual property assets to the consortium," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell, in a statement this morning.

Attachmate CEO Jeff Hawn said the addition of Novell "it greatly complements our existing portfolio."

Attachmate is backed by private equity firms Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Bravo. It sells software for terminal emulation, fraud detection and other purposes. The company shares many customers with Novell and its product portfolios are complementary, according to a statement.

Novell is known for SUSE Linux, data center management and virtualization software. Attachmate plans to run Novell as two separate business units, Novell and SUSE.

It was not immediately clear which of Novell's assets will be sold to the Microsoft group.

Novell's board decided to make the agreements after "a thorough review of a broad range of alternatives to enhance stockholder value," CEO Ron Hovsepian said in a statement.

Attachmate's offer of $6.10 per share follows the $5.75 a share offer made in March by investment firm Elliott Management Corporation, one of Novell's largest shareholders. Novell rejected that offer. But as part of the deal announced Monday, Elliott is to become an equity shareholder in Attachmate, according to a statement.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com