Linux supplier Red Hat has completed the acquisition of
open source middleware firm JBoss in a deal worth £187m, plus an
extra £38m if future sales targets are met.
The deal will bring together Red Hat's enterprise infrastructure
portfolio with standards-based middleware technologies, in a move
the companies say will help accelerate the shift to open source
service oriented architectures.
The acquisition will cause waves among software suppliers, with
the creation of a major open source firm on a “collision course”
with Oracle and IBM, according to Goldman Sachs.
The investment banking and research firm said the acquisition
“begins Red Hat’s migration up the infrastructure software stack
and leads it into direct competition with Oracle and IBM, two
important partners of Red Hat”.
JBoss will now become a division of Red Hat, with founder and
former chief executive Marc Fleury becoming senior vice-president
and general manager of the new division.
Red Hat chief executive Matthew Szulik said, “Red Hat's
acquisition of JBoss reflects a desire by our global customers to
accelerate and expand the use of open source in the enterprise. The
innovation and value of the open source platform continues to
transform the performance of the twenty-first century
enterprise."