LinuxMall Deal With SCO Signals Rapid Expansion

LinuxMall.com, a leading e-commerce site and portal featuring commercial software, has formed a partnership with SCO (Nasdaq:SCOC), a provider of UNIX operating systems and software. With SCO’s investment, LinuxMall.com is set for rapid expansion.

As part of the agreement, the investment firm Hambrecht & Quist will participate in the investment. SCO now becomes the largest external investor in LinuxMall.com, and will hold a seat on the board of Work Group Solutions, Inc. (WGS), the parent company to LinuxMall.com, and creator of Linux Pro.

LinuxMall.com, long considered a vendor-neutral Linux portal and community-oriented business, will remain just that, according to CEO Mark Bolzern.

“SCO’s investment gives them a non-controlling position with LinuxMall.com, and yet gives us the ability to take LinuxMall.com to the next level and meet the needs of the growing Linux community. The arrangement allows us the latitude to continue doing business with the Linux community in the same independent way that we always have,” he said.

What SCO Brings to the Table

SCO provides network computing software that enables clients of all kinds, including PCs, graphical terminals and NCs to have Webtop access to business-critical applications running on various servers. The company sells and supports its products through a worldwide network of distributors, resellers and system integrators.

“SCO has a long history in the Open Systems and Open Source movements,” said Doug Michels, president and CEO of SCO. “We have been distributing Open Source offerings for over five years as part of our product line.”

“LinuxMall.com is a fast-growing company with a very compelling business model,” Michels added. “The LinuxMall.com opportunity provides SCO with a way to pursue new business opportunities in the Linux marketplace with a partner that is distribution neutral.”

Recently, SCO announced a comprehensive set of Linux and Open Source-related professional services that were designed to bolster its commitment to Open Source technologies. In fact, SCO has contributed source code to the movement and currently offers a free Open Source Software Supplement CD.

About LinuxMall.com

The Linux Mall makes commercial software available for Linux, all in one location, linuxmall.com. One of the 200 busiest sites on the Internet, it also provides a channel where products ported to Linux can be easily exposed to the Linux market. The site allows end users, user groups and dealers to buy at discounted prices. Dealers receive money for any end user sales they generate. Dealers also benefit by use of the catalog, whether the sales are made direct from LinuxMall.com or by the dealer.

About Hambrecht & Quist

A leading underwriter of public equity, Hambrecht & Quist advises mergers and acquisitions and private equity services for growth companies in technology and healthcare. Since 1995, H & Q has completed more than 380 equity offerings globally and raised more than $27 billion (US$) for emerging growth companies.