Today, SUSE Linux, the
international technology leader and provider of Open Source
solutions, announced the successful completion of a financing
round amounting to EUR 15 million (13.9 million USD). The new lead
investor e-millennium 1 is a Venture Capital Fund with an
industrial investors' network such as Accenture, Beisheim Holding,
Deutsche Bank, La Caixa, and SAP. In addition, investment pools
advised by Apax Partners (Apax Funds) participated in the
investment in SUSE Linux AG.
Nuremberg, Germany 10/01/2001 SUSE is Europe's leading provider of software and services based
on the Open Source operating system Linux. Enterprise customers
benefit from SUSE individually tailored Open Source solutions,
their low total cost and their ease of implementation and
management. For the IT infrastructure within corporate customers,
SUSE offers cost-efficient and easy-to-administer standard
products, such as the SUSE eMail Server and SUSE Linux Firewall on
CD, delivering almost turnkey solutions to businesses most
pressing requirements. Private customers appreciate SUSE Linux,
too: the award-winning software package, its ease of use and the
variety of applications it delivers. The comprehensive range of
SUSEservices and products is based on the unique know-how of
the world's largest development team for Open Source solutions.
"We are convinced that SUSE and Linux are heading toward a bright
future in the server and enterprise computing sectors," says
Tillmann Lauk, Ph.D., CEO of the lead investor e-millennium 1.
"For many large enterprises, the combination of SUSE and Linux is
synonymous with reliability and performance. In the past years,
SUSE has reached a successful position in this area, thus
fulfilling all requirements for over-proportionate growth in the
service business, which is attractive on a long-term basis."
In order to meet the demands of the diverse customer groups even
better in the future, SUSE Linux AG has adapted its organizational
structure to these customer segments. As a consequence of this
strategical focusing, and after a period of concentrated
international growth during last year, SUSE Linux AG continues the
course of consolidation that started this summer. Therefore, SuSE
will be reducing its total headcount by 120 employees at the five
international and seven national locations, by the end of the
year. The job reduction will be conducted with the utmost care and
consideration for SUSEstaff and in close cooperation with the
German workers council. After the cost reduction, SUSE Linux AG
will have 380 employees worldwide.
Substantial Growth in the Sectors of Business Solutions and
Services
During the past months, SUSE Linux has launched SUSE Linux
Firewall on CD, SUSE Linux Database Server, and the cross platform
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 7, thus substantially expanding its
range of products and solutions. Explaining the strategic
positioning, Johannes Nussbickel, CEO of SUSE Linux AG, says:
"Apart from the rapidly increasing demand for Linux software
solutions, we are also seeing a growing demand for qualified IT
services such as planning and implementation, support and
training. In the segment of technical services for Linux, SuSE
currently is the only provider of such a complete and modular
service portfolio from one single source."
This view is supported by a recent study of the IDC market
researchers, which was conducted among 800 IT decision makers in
North America and Western Europe. Summarizing the results, study
coordinator Scott McLarnon remarks as follows: "Linux has long
become a standard in companies. Almost 40% of all interviewees
already utilize Linux productively or in a test environment. The
well-known Linux advantages scalability, performance, and
stability have gained importance with the decision makers."
About e-millennium 1
e-millennium 1 is a venture capital/private equity fund with an
investment focus in the telecom, media and technology industries.
The total fund volume amounts to EUR 210m. Based on the
advancement of the high speed/broadband transmission technologies,
the strong increase in the digitalisation of content, in
combination with ever higher processing speed and storage
capacity, corporations in all sectors will be able to radically
transform their internal supply chains and the way they interact
with their customers and suppliers. This environment provides a
multitude of opportunities for new ventures to provide
technologically based products and services to increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of established companies.
e-millennium 1 invests in ventures with proof of business concept
thereby focussing on expansion and late stage phases.
e-millennium 1 has a unique set of established and powerful
investors with a high value contribution potential along all
stages of the investment process.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.
Novell is a registered trademarks; Nsure, exteNd and Nteprise are trademarks; and Ngage is a service mark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE Linux AG. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Press Contact:
Jasmin Ul-Haque
Novell, Inc
Phone: +44 (0)1344 326-900
E-mail: juh@novell.com
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