“Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CORL TSE: COR) and Inprise/Borland
Corporation (NASDAQ: INPR) today announced that they have entered
into a definitive merger agreement. Upon completion of the merger,
the combined organization, called Corel, will be a Linux
powerhouse, offering a single source for end-to-end solutions
featuring a range of productivity applications, development tools,
and professional services for all major platforms. The valuation
for the entire transaction is approximately US$2.44 billion. Corel
is one of the world’s largest developers of business productivity,
graphics and operating systems solutions. Inprise/Borland
Corporation is a leading provider of Internet access infrastructure
and application development tools and services.”
“In 1999, the two companies had total revenues of US$418 million
and currently have over US$200 million in cash. The merger will be
accounted for as a purchase transaction under Canadian GAAP and is
expected to be accretive to Corel’s cash earnings per share before
the amortization of goodwill.”
“Upon completion of the merger, Inprise/Borland will operate as
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corel. Dr. Michael Cowpland will
remain as President, CEO and a director of the corporation. Dale
Fuller, Inprise/Borland’s interim President and CEO, will be
appointed as Chairman of Corel’s Board of Directors. The operations
of the combined entity will be headquartered in Ottawa, with the
Inprise/Borland operations remaining in its current Silicon Valley
locations. The combined businesses will have a presence in over 100
countries.”