Novell "not for sale"

 

Gallery

Posted on 22 Jun 2009 at 08:48

Novell says its has no plans to sell up, despite reports suggesting the company was courting buyers.

The company took the unusual step of issuing a notice via the US Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of last week, claiming the company wasn't up for sale.

"In response to inquiries and recent published reports, Novell wishes to clarify that it is continuing to operate the company in the best interest of shareholders and has no current plans to sell the company," the company's brief statement said.

The announcement follows speculation that Novell was looking to offload all or parts of the company.

The software company has been linked with several potential suitors, including Microsoft, IBM and HP.

In 2006 Microsoft and Novell signed a highly controversial patent protection agreement. The agreement saw the two companies agree to work on a series of interoperability initiatives, and not sue one another's customers for patent infringement.

The deal involved payments of more than $300 million from Microsoft, but even that windfall has not been enough to make Novell's Linux business profitable.

Novell's share price has slumped by almost a quarter over the past year, although speculation over a potential buyout sparked a minor rebound at the end of last week.