Attachmate to buy Novell for $2.2 billion
 

Novell Inc., the maker of Linux operating-system software, agreed to be bought by Attachmate Corp. for $2.2 billion in cash, ending at least eight months of bidding.

Novell investors will get $6.10 a share, Attachmate, a software company owned by private-equity firms including Golden Gate Capital Corp., said today in a statement. That?s 9.1 percent more than Novell?s closing price on Nov. 19. Novell will also sell some intellectual-property assets to a group of technology companies led by Microsoft Corp. for $450 million.

The company started looking at strategic alternatives including a sale after rejecting a $2 billion takeover offer in March from shareholder Elliot Associates LP as inadequate. Attachmate, whose owners also include Francisco Partners and Thoma Bravo, said Novell products will complement a portfolio that includes other technology assets.

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