Third Linux vendor heads for Wall Street

As expected, Linux server maker VA Linux Systems is the next Linux company to go public in a stock offering that will net the company some $70 million. VA Linux is based in Sunnyvale. It sells Intel-based servers running various distributions of the Linux Operating system, including one developed by VA Linux itself.

"We believe that our integrated approach and our close ties to the open source developer community enable us to offer a superior solution to our customers,'' said a VA Linux spokesman. VA Linux is following in the footsteps of Red Hat Linux, which went public this summer. Its stock rose from $14 to $100 in the first week and is currently trading at around $90 a share. Mountain View-based LinuxOne, which offers a competing Linux distribution filed last

month for a $23 million initial public stock offering. VA Linux lost $14.5 million on revenue of $17.7 million for the year ending July 31 compared to a profit of $84,000 on revenue of $5.6 million during the corresponding period in 1998. VA’s largest shareholders include CEO/founder Larry Augustin, who owns a 19.4 per cent stake. Intel owns 10 per cent of the company and venture capitalist Sequoia Capital owns a 25 per cent stake.