Acquisition will integrate India operations, demonstrating growth,
commitment, and investment in Indian market
Novell, Inc., today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the 50% stake held by its partner in Onward Novell, its sales and distribution arm in India. Novell will integrate the Onward Novell organization with the company's existing India operations, increasing Novell's investment in the region. The move reflects Novell's strong commitment to bringing its Linux* and identity solutions to the rapidly growing Indian market. As a result, Novell will be able to better serve its Indian customers, while simultaneously enhancing its existing development and technical support operations in the region. Novell expects to close the transaction by the end of its fiscal year.
"In India, Linux and open source are increasingly permeating applications such as mail messaging, file & print, and web hosting. Identity and access management solutions are also getting increased traction in the IT services and BPO sector in India due to privacy and compliance issues," said Praveen Sengar, analyst, Software and Services Research, IDC India. "Hence, Novell's decision to take direct control of its business in India should enable it to have more focus on the Indian market and to deliver Linux and identity and access management solutions more effectively."
Novell has operated in India since 1992 as Onward Novell, a 50/50 joint venture with a local Indian partner. Onward Novell Managing Director Harish Mehta will continue to advise the wholly owned Novell operation. Rhonda O'Donnell, president, Novell Asia-Pacific, will assume responsibility for the operations, with support from a local senior management team.
Open source is the future of computing in much of the Asia-Pacific region, and Linux is emerging as the de facto standards-based operating platform,” said O'Donnell. “By increasing our investment in India, we are well positioned to help drive Linux and open-source adoption not just in India, but in other emerging Asian markets as well.”
"I am extremely proud of what we have achieved during this period. We were able to establish Novell as a pioneer in the networking field in India. Combining Novell's product reliability with customer focus, we have been able to build deep and long-standing relationships with the Indian customer community," said Mehta.
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of infrastructure software and services to over 50,000 customers in 43 countries. With more than 20 years of experience in data center, workgroup and desktop solutions, Novell's 6,000 employees, 5,000 partners and support centers around the world are meeting customer requirements for identity-driven computing and Linux solutions. By providing enterprise-class software and support for commercial and open source software, Novell delivers increased operating flexibility and choice at a lower total cost of ownership. More information about Novell can be found at http://www.novell.com.
Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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