Company chief executive Darl McBride said yesterday he will this quarter provide details on an acquisition or two of companies that have revenues between $4m to $10m.

McBride said he is interested in companies that help fill technology gaps in SCO’s portfolio supporting the SCOx web services platform and application service providers (ASPs) serving vertical markets. He did not provide further details of likely deals.

McBride spoke as he also announced record net income of $4.5m on revenue up 38% to $21.4m for SCO’s second quarter ended April 30, compared to a $6.6m net loss on $15.5m revenue [see separate story].

He optimistically predicted a return to IT spending by the end of this year indicating he believed SCO had take the correct step in focusing its sales efforts on Unix.

He added that as the company’s case with IBM Corp and the industry developed it is increasingly unlikely SCO would revive its recently suspended Linux business. Since the announcement things are starting to polarize and we are getting further away from that path, of resuming Linux sales McBride said.

Despite the turn in SCO’s fiscal fortunes, the company seems intent on at least ploughing some of its new-found wealth into acquisitions and well-publicized litigation against IBM and possibly other vendors and even customers.

Answering one financial analyst’s question yesterday over whether SCO was budgeting for legal costs in future, McBride said yes. He did not put a figure on a fighting fund but said SCO is set up for the long-haul against IBM and any resulting counter claims.

McBride said yesterday SCO has also signed another big vendor to license SCO’s technology, who he was prevented from naming because of contractual obligations. SCO recently caused ripples when it announced Microsoft had signed up.

As for acquisitions, one potential way for SCO to cushion the fiscal impact would be for a stock-based deal. McBride noted yesterday SCO’s share price had spiked in May, after the action against IBM was announced. SCO’s share price closed yesterday at $6.60, down 24.23% on the day but that was still up from early May when SCO traded below $4 a share.

McBride noted SCO’s increased share price had made them [prospective acquirees] want to get onboard more.

Acquisitions in web services are designed to enhance appeal of SCO’s platform among traditional small, medium and replicated site business customer based while McBride said the acquisition of vertical ASPs would fund the company’s growth. We have a number of verticals. We think those acquisitions will drive very good ongoing rev opportunities for us.

Source: Computerwire