Attachmate buying Novell for 2.2 billion dollars

US enterprise software maker Novell announced Monday that it had agreed to be acquired for 2.2 billion dollars by Attachmate, an investment group made up of three private equity firms.
The deal calls for Attachmate, which is owned by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Bravo, to buy Novell for 6.10 dollars per share in cash, a nine percent premium over Friday's closing price in New York.
The Waltham, Massachusetts-based Novell also said it had agreed to sell unspecified intellectual property assets to CPTN Holdings, a consortium of technology companies led by Microsoft for 450 million dollars in cash.
"We are pleased that these transactions appropriately recognize the value of Novell's relationships, technology and solutions, while providing our stockholders with an attractive cash premium for their investment," Novell president and chief executive Ron Hovsepian said in a statement.
Attachmate said it expects the deals to close in the first quarter of 2011.
Novell provides identity and security, systems management and collaboration solutions for Linux-based operating platforms.
Novell shares gained 6.62 percent on Wall Street on Monday to close at 5.96 dollars.