JBoss Bought by Red Hat

Here is a company – JBoss – that was dying to get bought!! Finally, it went to the right place – Red Hat! The Open Source Movement is picking steam now!!

Linux distributor Red Hat said Monday that it signed an agreement to buy open-source company JBoss for at least $350 million, a move that expands Red Hat’s product line and adds to its growth potential.

The transaction involves 40 percent cash and 60 percent Red Hat stock, with an additional $70 million owed, subject to financial performance. Red Hat said the deal, which is expected to close next month, will add to the company’s earnings next year.

In a statement, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik said the two companies’ business models and beliefs are "fully aligned." Both Red Hat and JBoss charge customers a subsciption fee for products and ongoing support, rather than an up-front license fee.

"The open-source development model continues to change the economics of enterprise IT in favor of the customer, and we truly believe in the potential of software innovation, once freed from the fetters of proprietary development," Szulik said.

With the acquisition, Red Hat gains a popular open-source Java application server, which is used for running custom business applications written in Java, and a more substantial offering for Java developers. JBoss is assembling a suite of open-source Java middleware, including a portal, messaging and a transaction server.

Red Hat sells support for a competing open-source application server, called Jonas, from the France-based consortium ObjectWeb. Red Hat and JBoss had tried to come to terms on a partnership around the JBoss application server but were unable to, JBoss executives have said.

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Tags: Red Hat, JBoss, Open Source