Citrix to Buy XenSource As Virtualization Ascends
online.wsj.com
"In a sign of the growing enthusiasm for computer virtualization technology, Citrix Systems Inc. agreed to buy XenSource Inc., a tiny California software developer for $500 million in cash and stock.
The action is likely to increase competition for EMC Corp.'s VMware subsidiary, the market leader, which went public Tuesday in a deal that valued the firm at $19 billion. It also creates a bigger potential rival for Microsoft Corp., which plans to add virtualization capabilities to Windows next year.
XenSource, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has been developing virtualization technology built around the freely available XenSource virtualization engine. In the past year it had revenue of just over $1 million, estimated Rachel Chalmers, an analyst with New York-based market researcher 451 Group who is married to a XenSource programmer.
Citrix, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., makes application virtualization software that lets organizations run software on central servers while many individual users sit at terminals and run the software as if they had their own personal computers. Last year it had revenue of $1.13 billion and net income of $196.3 million, or $1.05 a share. It has a stock market value of $5.8 billion." |
