Paris, France-based Mandriva was formed by Mandrakesoft SA’s acquisition of Brazilian Linux vendor Conectiva SA in early 2005, and the company then added US Linux desktop specialist Lycoris Inc to the mix in June 2005.
The company also snapped up French Linux support and services provider Edge-IT in July 2004 and the LinboxFAS deal sees it returning closer to home for an acquisition. Based in Paris, LinboxFAS provides backup and directory server software as well as consulting services.
It was formed in 2001 when services firm Free and Alter Soft acquired product vendor Linbox and assumed the latter’s name. Its core products include the Linux Rescue Server for backup and recovery and Linux Directory Server.
Mandriva said it sees the potential to initially cross-sell these technologies with its own Linux distributions and the Pulse enterprise software deployment and management software, while a technology integration plan is also in the works.
Mandriva is paying $1.7m in stock for LinboxFAS, with an additional $401,000 available if LinboxFAS meets 2006 financial targets. LinboxFAS broke even on revenue of $844,000 in 2005 and is predicting 20% growth and net positive earnings this year.
