Roxio Sells GoBack Product To Symantec

Under the terms of the deal, $2.75 million of the purchase price will be held in escrow for one year, according to Roxio, based here. The company said the transaction will be reflected in the financial results of its fiscal first quarter, which ends June 30.

Symantec already offered a special version of the GoBack product, GoBack Personal Edition, as part of its Norton SystemWorks 2003 system repair, maintenance and security suite. The Cupertino, Calif.-based security and utilities software vendor also offered the full version, GoBack 3 Deluxe, through its Web site. In addition to GoBack 3 Deluxe, Roxio also sold an enterprise version of the product called GoBack 3 Enterprise Edition.

Roxio and Symantec signed the GoBack Personal Edition/Norton SystemWorks bundling agreement in August 2001.

By selling GoBack, Roxio is sharpening its focus on its digital media offerings, according to President and CEO Chris Gorog. Roxio's staple products include the Easy CD Creator (Windows) and Toast (Macintosh) CD/DVD burning applications, PhotoSuite digital photography software and VideoWave digital video software. Roxio also owns Napster, which it acquired in November, and said it plans to relaunch the online music-sharing service later this year.

"The opportunity to sell GoBack comes at a great time for Roxio as it provides an opportunity to add to our cash balances and divest an asset that is not core to our digital media strategy," Gorog said in a statement. "This transaction will enable us to bring an even greater focus to our digital media software business and the development of our new online music business with our Napster assets. Symantec is currently one of GoBack's largest marketing partners, and it is the logical and best new home for GoBack and its customers."