From:	 Martina Eckstein <meck@suse.de>
To:	 lwn@lwn.net
Subject: "SuSE Linux AG Successfully Closes Financing Round - Consolidation Continues"
Date:	 Mon, 1 Oct 2001 10:17:24 +0200

*** SuSE Linux AG Successfully Closes Financing Round -
Consolidation Continues ***

Nuremberg, GERMANY, October 01, 2001 - Today, SuSE Linux, the 
international technology leader and provider of Open Source 
solutions, announced the successful completion of a financing 
round amounting to EUR 15 million (13.9 million USD). The new lead 
investor e-millennium 1 is a Venture Capital Fund with an 
industrial investors' network such as Accenture, Beisheim Holding, 
Deutsche Bank, La Caixa, and SAP. In addition, investment pools 
advised by Apax Partners (Apax Funds) participated in the 
investment in SuSE Linux AG.

SuSE is Europe's leading provider of software and services based 
on the Open Source operating system Linux. Enterprise customers 
benefit from SuSE's individually tailored Open Source solutions, 
their low total cost and their ease of implementation and 
management. For the IT infrastructure within corporate customers, 
SuSE offers cost-efficient and easy-to-administer standard 
products, such as the SuSE eMail Server and SuSE Linux Firewall on 
CD, delivering almost turnkey solutions to businesses most 
pressing requirements. Private customers appreciate SuSE Linux, 
too: the award-winning software package, its ease of use and the 
variety of applications it delivers. The comprehensive range of 
SuSE's services and products is based on the unique know-how of 
the world's largest development team for Open Source solutions.

"We are convinced that SuSE and Linux are heading toward a bright 
future in the server and enterprise computing sectors," says 
Tillmann Lauk, Ph.D., CEO of the lead investor e-millennium 1. 
"For many large enterprises, the combination of SuSE and Linux is 
synonymous with reliability and performance. In the past years, 
SuSE has reached a successful position in this area, thus 
fulfilling all requirements for over-proportionate growth in the 
service business, which is attractive on a long-term basis."

In order to meet the demands of the diverse customer groups even 
better in the future, SuSE Linux AG has adapted its organizational 
structure to these customer segments. As a consequence of this 
strategical focusing, and after a period of concentrated 
international growth during last year, SuSE Linux AG continues the 
course of consolidation that started this summer. Therefore, SuSE 
will be reducing its total headcount by 120 employees at the five 
international and seven national locations, by the end of the 
year. The job reduction will be conducted with the utmost care and 
consideration for SuSE's staff and in close cooperation with the 
German workers council. After the cost reduction, SuSE Linux AG 
will have 380 employees worldwide.

*** Substantial Growth in the Sectors of Business Solutions and 
Services

During the past months, SuSE Linux has launched SuSE Linux 
Firewall on CD, SuSE Linux Database Server, and the cross platform 
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7, thus substantially expanding its 
range of products and solutions. Explaining the strategic 
positioning, Johannes Nussbickel, CEO of SuSE Linux AG, says: 
"Apart from the rapidly increasing demand for Linux software 
solutions, we are also seeing a growing demand for qualified IT 
services such as planning and implementation, support and 
training. In the segment of technical services for Linux, SuSE 
currently is the only provider of such a complete and modular 
service portfolio from one single source."

This view is supported by a recent study of the IDC market 
researchers, which was conducted among 800 IT decision makers in 
North America and Western Europe. Summarizing the results, study 
coordinator Scott McLarnon remarks as follows: "Linux has long 
become a standard in companies. Almost 40% of all interviewees 
already utilize Linux productively or in a test environment. The 
well-known Linux advantages scalability, performance, and 
stability have gained importance with the decision makers."

*** About SuSE

SuSE Linux is one of the world's leading providers of complete 
solutions based on the Open Source operating system Linux. In 
addition to operating systems and application software for private 
customers, SuSE offers software solutions and complete systems for 
the deployment of Linux in companies.

SuSE supports its enterprise customers with a comprehensive range 
of qualified consulting, training, and support services. The 
company, which hosts the world's largest development team for Open 
Source solutions, has made its unique project and support know-how 
accessible via the Internet in the largest existing Linux 
knowledge database. 

*** About e-millennium 1

e-millennium 1 is a venture capital/private equity fund with an 
investment focus in the telecom, media and technology industries. 
The total fund volume amounts to EUR 210m. Based on the 
advancement of the high speed/broadband transmission technologies, 
the strong increase in the digitalisation of content, in 
combination with ever higher processing speed and storage 
capacity, corporations in all sectors will be able to radically 
transform their internal supply chains and the way they interact 
with their customers and suppliers. This environment provides a 
multitude of opportunities for new ventures to provide 
technologically based products and services to increase the 
efficiency and effectiveness of established companies. 
e-millennium 1 invests in ventures with proof of business concept 
thereby focussing on expansion and late stage phases.  
e-millennium 1 has a unique set of established and powerful 
investors with a high value contribution potential along all 
stages of the investment process.


Press contact:
SuSE Linux AG
Martina Eckstein
Schanzaeckerstr. 10
90443 Nürnberg
Germany
martina.eckstein@suse.de
Phone: +49-(0)911-74053507