Caldera Taps New CEO, Love Takes on United Linux Duties

Caldera, a pioneering Linux company, has shaken up its executive ranks after several months of declining revenue, falling stock value and layoffs. McBride, formerly the president of Franklin Covey's online planning business, is charged with reducing Caldera's operating costs and fulfilling on the growing interest in Linux and open source software. McBride alluded to changes in the works at the company and says he is optimistic about the many untapped opportunities for both Linux and Caldera. McBride says one of the key points he will focus on is improving Caldera's channel presence.

"We're going to be very aggressive with this channel play," McBride said during a conference call Thursday. "We have some interesting things cooking in the kitchen."

Love, who had served as president and CEO of the 8-year-old Caldera since 1998, led the company through its initial public offering and its rise as one of the major Linux distributors in the market. However, the company's financial struggles led to mounting pressure on Love.

Love will now serve as head of Caldera's operations for United Linux, a new consortium formed by leading Linux distributors, including Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE Linux and Turbolinux. United Linux was formed to combine the efforts of Linux companies and streamline development and certification of the open source software around a uniform Linux distribution designed for businesses.

Caldera and Love were key figures in the development of United Linux, which was unveiled last month. Love says his departure from the CEO role will allow him to devote more time to the United Linux effort and continue Caldera's involvement in the new initiative. Love says he will concentrate on bringing aboard more Linux distributors to United Linux as well as cultivating interest in Linux within the ISV community.

In addition to the executive changes, Caldera also announced that it has agreed to purchase the shares of its common stock held by two shareholders, Tarantella and MTI Technology.

The transactions involve the acquisition of approximately 4.4 million shares, or approximately 31 percent of the issued and outstanding common stock of Caldera. The aggregate purchase price for the shares of common stock is $4.1 million, or approximately 93 cents per share.

The transaction, scheduled for early July, will reduce the number of issued and outstanding shares of the company from approximately 13.9 million shares to approximately 9.5 million shares. In connection with the stock purchases, the directors representing Tarantella and MTI on the Caldera's board of directors, Alok Mahan, R. Duff Thompson, and Thomas P. Raimondi, will resign.

Both Tarantella and MTI had been seeking to sell their stock in Caldera, according to the company. Caldera acquired Tarantella's Unix technology, formerly Santa Cruz Operations, almost two years ago in an attempt to diversify its business and create a bridge between Unix and its open source relative in order to build a large Linux presence in the business world. While Linux has gained more acceptance among enterprises, many Linux distributors such as Caldera, have struggled recently.