From: bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig)
Subject: Apple/Novell merger discussed
Organization: Starfleet Headquarters: San Francisco
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:08:14 GMT

I received this information through email; make of it what you will!

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SUBJECT:  APPLE, NOVELL DISCUSS MERGER
SOURCE:   Knight-Ridder via First! by INDIVIDUAL, Inc.
DATE:     December 7, 1992
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San Jose Mercury News via First!: Executives of Apple Computer Inc.
and Novell Inc. have engaged in top-level discussions in recent weeks
about the possibility of rewriting the rules of the computing world by
merging their two companies into an $8 billion hardware-software
giant.

The talks between Apple President John Sculley and Novell President
Ray Noorda are a closely held secret, known at the two firms only by
an elite group of senior executives.  However, information about the
discussions was provided by a person within the financial community
with extensive contacts at both companies.

There is no guarantee that the negotiations will be successful --
exploratory merger talks, while not uncommon among high-technology
firms, very often fail to produce an agreement.  But if nothing else,
the discussions show the seriousness with which both companies take
the threat of Microsoft Corp. and its continued dominance of the
computer software world.

The logic behind an Apple-Novell merger stems from two marketplace
realities.  First, as a provider of desktop computers, Apple has not
had all the success it wanted in penetrating computing's largest
market: the corporate computing world, which buys tens of millions of
machines a year and which has a propensity toward systems designed by IBM.

Second, that corporate world is increasingly interested in connecting
systems into computer networks.  The marketplace for networks, which
involve huge and complex software programs, is now dominated by Novell.

An Apple-Novell team-up would allow the combined companies to become
an extraordinarily potent industry force by selling Apple's highly
praised, easy-to-use computers with the advanced networking and other
communications software features now associated with Novell.

"It solves a lot of problems for both companies," said the person
familiar with the discussions, who on Monday was attending an industry
conference in Burlingame.  "Sculley talked throughout his speech today
about the importance of networking.  It was almost like he was
preparing people for a merger."

The crucial role of networking has not been lost on Microsoft, now the
biggest presence in the computing software world by virtue of its DOS
and Windows operating system products, which are key elements in more
than 80 percent of personal computers.

Microsoft plans to include extensive networking abilities into Windows
NT, its next-generation operating system program due out next year.
Early indications are that NT will be an enormous success -- so much so
that firms like Apple and Novell are clearly worried that a Microsoft
juggernaut would limit their future growth in corporate computing.

In addition to the improved strategic position a merger could give
Apple and Novell, a union could also solve a problem of finding a
successor to the 67-year-old Noorda, the man most responsible for the
firm's success but who is planning on retiring soon.

As part of the talks, Sculley and Noorda have not only had general
philosophical discussions about the direction the joined companies
could take, but have also exchanged detailed financial and product
information.

Clearly, major issues would need to be resolved, not the least of
which are financial.

Apple's market valuation -- calculated by multiplying its stock price
by the number of outstanding shares -- is about $6.8 billion, based on
Monday's closing prices.

But although Novell's sales in its most recent four quarters were only
about an eighth of Apple's $7 billion, Novell's valuation, at $9.3
billion, is 37 percent higher.

That's because profits are far greater on Novell's software than they
are on Apple's hardware.  Even with its lower sales, Novell made $230
million in its most recent four quarters, compared with Apple's $530.4
million.

While Novell is headquartered in Provo, Utah, the majority of its top
managers and about a third of its 3,100 employees are based in Silicon
Valley, where the company also has a major new facility on the drawing
boards.  Apple is based in Cupertino and has about 14,000 employees
worldwide.  The companies could not be reached for comment late Monday.

By Lee Gomes, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

[12-07-92 at 23:49 EST, Copyright 1992, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News,
File: t1207235.003]


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SUBJECT:  APPLE HAS NO COMMENT ON NOVELL MERGER TALK
SOURCE:   Reuters via First! by INDIVIDUAL, Inc.
DATE:     December 8, 1992
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CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec 8, Reuters Corporate World News via First!:
Apple Computer Inc said it had no comment on a news report that it was
in merger talks with Novell Inc <NOVL.O>.

Novell has already denied the San Jose Mercury News report.  The paper
said an elite group of senior executives at the two firms had held
top-level talks in recent weeks.

Apple's corporate relations manager Christopher Escher said the
company would not comment on "rumor and speculation".

"We talk to lots of people all the time," he added.  He declined to say
if Apple would issue a statement later on.

[12-08-92 at 12:18 EST, Copyright 1992, Reuters America Inc., File:
w1208122.006]

-- 
_/_/_/  Brian Kendig                             Je ne suis fait comme aucun
/_/_/  bskendig@netcom.com                de ceux que j'ai vus; j'ose croire
_/_/                            n'etre fait comme aucun de ceux qui existent.
  /  Nolite te bastardes     Si je ne vaux pas mieux, au moins je suis autre.
 /    carborundorum.                                             -- Rousseau