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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (10570)	2/19/2002 2:55:24 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

Borland survived Microsoft, and now it is thriving, looking at 12-18% growth Tuesday, February 19, 2002 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO -- Borland Software Corp. sank so low in the 1990s that it became ashamed of itself -- the company changed its name to Inprise to distance itself from a mortifying five-year slump. Things didn't improve with the new identity. By the spring of 1999, the company was down to its last $30 million in the bank and seemed destined for bankruptcy. "Most people in the Silicon Valley were picking us as the company most likely not to see the new millennium. We had been given up for dead," said Borland Chief Executive Dale Fuller, who took the job in April 1999 as part of a last-ditch effort to salvage the Scotts Valley-based business. The 19-year-old maker of software development tools now possesses one of the strongest pulses in the ailing high-tech industry. After dropping the Inprise identity and reclaiming one of Silicon Valley's pioneering names, Fuller has engineered a renaissance at Borland, even as the recession brutalizes the tech sector. "It's hard to find another company that has grown like Borland did in 2001. It's been a real sleeper success story," said industry analyst David Breiner of Bear Stearns. Borland's revenue last year rose 16 percent to $221 million, and profits climbed 11 percent from the previous year to $23.1 million. Borland ended 2001 with nearly $300 million in cash. The company's stock, at $5.53 at the end of 2000, now trades in the $14 to $15 range, but several tech analysts believe it is headed even higher. "The turnaround is complete. Now, the company is in the early stages of a real growth phase," said analyst Audrey Snell of Brean Murray & Co. Borland projects its revenue will rise by 12 percent to 18 percent this year. The stock still has a long way to go to return to its high of $86 in the early 1990s when the company controlled nearly half the market for database-management software. Bitter competition with Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. led to a steady slide that included the departure of the company's colorful founder, Philippe Kahn. Meanwhile, Borland's payroll atrophied from 1,700 employees to about 700 workers in 1999. With the company hiring again, Borland serves as a reminder that not every Silicon Valley company is limping away from the tech wreck. Several other software companies increased their business last year, including PeopleSoft Inc., where revenue surged 19 percent to $2.1 billion, and Veritas Software Corp., where revenue increased 24 percent to $1.5 billion. But none of those companies entered the recession fighting for their survival like Borland. "No one cared about us a few years ago," Fuller said. "It was like we had the black plague or something." Fuller, who helped restructure Apple Computer's laptop business, engineered Borland's turnaround by focusing on tools for developing software that runs on the Internet and wireless devices. He also revived the old Borland name after realizing the brand still had a loyal following among software developers. "We had customers that were still absolute evangelists even though we had fallen off the radar screen," Fuller said. Fuller also shored up Borland's finances in June 1999 by reaching out to once-despised rival Microsoft and negotiating a $125 million cash infusion in return for a 10 percent stake. The Microsoft truce represented Fuller's effort to position Borland as "the Switzerland" of the software industry, offering neutral turf for developers working on competing products. The turnaround hasn't been entirely smooth. In early 2000, Fuller agreed to sell Borland to Corel Corp. for $1.1 billion. He halted the sale when Corel's fortunes plunged and the deal's value fell to $400 million. Borland now is in much better shape than Ottawa-based Corel, and Fuller is being well rewarded for the accomplishment. The company awarded him 2 million stock options worth about $20 million at current rates. Borland also paid Fuller a salary and bonus totaling $1.2 million in 2000. The company hasn't yet disclosed Fuller's compensation for last year. Although Fuller continues to hold his stock options, four other Borland insiders, including Chief Financial Officer Fred Ball and Chief Operating Officer Doug Barre, recently sold a total of 170,000 shares. News of the sales rattled investors worried that divestiture might foreshadow another slump in business, but Fuller says the company's best days are still ahead. "Our goal is never to go negative again," Fuller said. "We're building a company to last."