Archive for the 'SCO' Category

SCO Plans Rebound Thanks to $100M Lifeline

Published by
jeremy
at February 14, 2008 in Linux and SCO. 1 Comment

I have no idea how, but it looks like SCO managed to get a $100M bid that will take the company private. From the article:
Embattled Unix vendor SCO may get a new lease on life, thanks to a $100 million infusion aimed at helping it emerge from bankruptcy and pursue its controversial legal claims.

The financing comes from Stephen Norris Capital Partners (SNCP), which will take a controlling interest in SCO as part of the deal.

“Not only will this deal position us to emerge from Chapter 11, but it also marks an exciting future for our business,” said Jeff Hunsaker, the company’s president and COO of SCO Operations, in a statement.

“This significant financial backing is positive news for SCO’s customers, partners and resellers who continue to request upgrades and rely upon SCO’s UNIX services to drive their business forward,” he said.

According to a statement from the company, SNCP already has a business plan for SCO that includes pursuing its legal claims.

Unless the Norris in SNCP is Chuck, I can’t see how this will help. SCO has a dying operating system on its hands along with two lawsuits that are going absolutely nowhere. I’ve not seen too much recently about their mobile offerings either. The previous bid of $36M by York seemed high, but $100M for SCO seem ludicrous to me. One has to wonder if McBride will remain with the company if this deal closes. There is a possible silver lining here though. If Novell does win its case against SCO, now there may actually be some assets for them to take.

–jeremy

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No More SCOX

Published by
jeremy
at December 28, 2007 in SCO. 0 Comments

It looks like SCO has finally been delisted from the Nasdaq. The ticker is now SCOXQ.PK on the OTC board. From the “SCO Receives Nasdaq Notice Letter” press release:

LINDON, Utah, Dec. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The SCO Group, Inc. (”SCO”) (Nasdaq: SCOX - News), a leading provider of UNIX software technology and mobile services, today announced that it received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter on December 21, 2007 indicating that as a result of having filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel has determined to delist the company’s securities from the Nasdaq Stock Market and will suspend trading of the securities effective at the open of business on Thursday, December 27, 2007.

It’s been a wild and crazy ride, that’s for sure. While it’s not completely over yet, this surely marks the beginning of the end. It’s interesting to see that they still consider themselves a “leading provider of UNIX software technology”. If they focused on UNIX software technology instead of absurd litigation in the first place, it’s very possible this letter would never have been delivered.

–jeremy

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SCO still hanging on

Published by
jeremy
at October 25, 2007 in Linux, Open Source and SCO. 0 Comments

After filing for Chapter 11, SCO may have found a buyer for its UNIX operations. From the article:

While still fighting in the courts and fresh from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, The SCO Group could soon be selling its steadily-declining Unix business.

In a filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the Lindon, Utah-based company said it had received a “potential” $US36 million offer for its Unix business from JGD Management, an umbrella business of New York-based investment firm, York Capital Management. The filing has been posted on the Groklaw.com website, which has been tracking the legal records of the ongoing lawsuits between SCO, IBM, Novell and others. In it, SCO reports that the offer includes money for its Unix business, litigation claims and for litigation expenses.

The bid is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, according to the filing, and competitive bids could still be accepted from other potential buyers.

SCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last month as it began seeking ways to stay in business amid mounting expenses and several legal rulings that have hurt its legal fights with IBM and Novell.

If SCO gets out of the Unix business, it would continue solely as a mobile application platform vendor, which it has been working to become over the last several years.

York is a large hedge fund-like capital management company, so at first I didn’t think there was anything odd about this. It was probably an LBO in which the company thought it could squeeze some value out of a product that had been neglicted. Fairly popular stuff these days. But, it gets odd from here. As noted on Groklaw:

JGD Management Corporation has its principal executive offices at 1118 East Green Street Pasadena, California 91106 (http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.v51a.htm)

If you google the address the first match is a reference to a page on Edgar which provides the Form 4 (any of you US business types know what that is?) for a company known as Arrowhead Research Corp which has one R Bruce Stewart as its
CEO and Chairman of the Board.
(http://edgar.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=T-hII2bI2EHwHrP&ID=3669175)

R Bruce Stewart founded Acacia Research Corporation in March 1991.
(http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=927443).

Yes, that would be the same Acacia that is currently suing Red Hat and Novell. Quite some coincidence. I haven’t had a chance to personally verify all the information from the Groklaw post, but the links are all there for you to do so. If you’d like to do some additional research:

http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.u4d4r.htm
http://sec.edgar-online.com/2004/05/17/0001015402-04-002107/Section7.asp

–jeremy

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