Red Hat to acquire Jboss

RALEIGH/INDIA: Red Hat, Inc., leading provider of open source solutions today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Jboss Inc., the global leader in open source middleware.

By acquiring JBoss, Red Hat expects to accelerate the shift to service-oriented architectures (SOA) by enabling the next generation of web-enabled applications running on a low-cost, open source platform.

"It is at Red Hat's very core to help unlock the power of open source and open communities to innovate across industries, geographies and economies," said Matthew Szulik, Chairman and CEO of Red Hat.

Red Hat will acquire JBoss for approximately $350 million in initial consideration, plus approximately $70 million subject to the achievement of certain future performance metrics.

The transaction consideration is composed of approximately 40 per cent in cash and 60 per cent in Red Hat common stock. The acquisition is expected to be completed around the end of Red Hat's first fiscal quarter (May 2006), subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

This acquisition is expected to accelerate enterprise adoption of open source infrastructure, and broaden the entire market opportunity for existing and new Red Hat and JBoss partners who are building value-added enterprise solutions.