"The project rapidly became unmanageable as all involved attempted to find a niche in the rapidly developing Linux market and focused their efforts elsewhere. Sequent was acquired by IBM in 1999. SCO left the Unix business in 2001; in the same year, IBM eventually declared Monterey dead.[2] Intel, IBM, Caldera, and others had also been running a parallel effort to port Linux to IA-64, Project Trillian, which delivered workable code in February 2000."
IBM did not start this project with the SCO group, they started it with Santa Cruz Operations. Which other then selling off their UNIX rights to Caldera -> SCO Group has no relation.
The facts just keep digging you in deeper, GE.