Novell Inc. on Friday announced the formation of a new subsidiary that will target the content networking market.
The new company, Volera Inc. will integrate caching and content management services and will have equity partners of Nortel Networks Corp. and Accenture, the former Anderson Consulting Inc., Novell said in a statement. The move represents a significant step for Novell's transition to a Net services business, the company said.
The agreements between Novell, Nortel Networks and Accenture call for the companies to provide Volera with more than US$80 million in cash as well as consulting services. Novell also will contribute technology and resources within the company's Net Content Services Group. The products Novell transferred to Volera are all in early stages of market adoption and represent less than 1 percent of Novell's fiscal 2000 revenue of $1.16 billion, the company said.
Nortel will also enter into joint development and distribution agreements with Volera. Accenture has been working with Novell and Volera personnel for more than six months to plan Volera's initial Internet content services, the companies said. Accenture will assist in supporting Volera's sales, customer services, support and business development.
Volera estimates it holds a 17 percent share of the worldwide market for cache appliances, according to the company. During 2001, the company plans to offer content management, streaming media and end-to-end networking technology.
Eric Schmidt, Novell chairman and chief executive officer, has been named Volera's chairman of its board of directors. Simon Khalaf, formerly general manager of the Novell Net Content Group, has been named Volera's president. Drew Major, formerly chief scientist and chief technology officer for Novell's Net Content Group, has been appointed chief technology officer of Volera.
The new company will be headquartered in San Jose, California. Novell's board of directors has approved the initial plan to make Volera a publicly held company, and it is the goal to distribute Novell's interest in the company to its shareholders in the future, the company said.
Novell, in Provo, Utah, can be reached at +1-801-222-6000 or via the Internet at http://www.novell.com/.