Posted on 07/26/2004 10:16:56 AM PDT by NJ_gent
SCO's attempts to rescue its relationship with BayStar Capital, its biggest backer, have come to naught. On Friday morning, Eastern time, SCO announced that the stock buyback deal it agreed with the unhappy investment firm had closed. Two hours and five minutes later, Baystar issued a statement saying that a) no it hadn't and b) we'll see you in court, matey.
BayStar is the sole remaining major investor in SCO. Last year, it invested $20m in Series A stock, and then picked up another $20m worth of stock offloaded by the Royal Bank of Canada. In April, it told SCO it wanted its investment back because, it alleged, SCO had not kept to the terms of the investment agreement. The two companies agreed a stock buy back deal that would have seen SCO pay 2.1 million shares and $13m in cash to BayStar.
Things are certainly not looking good for SCO, nor for SCO's customers. (Yes, they still have some)
Burn, baby, burn!
I expect to see a perp walk for the SCO heads sometime in the next six months.
It does my heart good to see this scam unravel.
Groklaw was all over the BayStar news as it happened
on friday.
http://www.groklaw.net/
Check both topical threads for the most advanced
speculation on what BayStar is up to (it's not like
there's any chance they'll actually get their
money back).
SCO also got clobbered in court last week vs.
Daimler-Chrysler.
And the GPL was upheld by a German court.
Busy week for SCO and open source.
That's assuming that SCO has the rights to begin with.. and that's still in dispute.
That also assumes SCO actually has any IP left after IBM's lawyers are done with them.
After SCO loses its claims there are countersuits to be delt with. The only assets anybody expects will be there is the IP (such as it is).
The lawyers are going to be fighting each other as they feast on the carcass!
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Press Release
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Baystar Capital Announces Repurchase Transaction With the SCO Group, Inc. Has Not Closed
SAN FRANCISCO, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BayStar Capital today announced that, despite a prior announcement by The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX - News) to the contrary, the transactions contemplated by the Stock Repurchase Agreement by and between BayStar and SCO, dated as of May 31, 2004, have not closed due to an unresolved dispute between the parties. BayStar intends to file an action requesting a declaratory judgment with respect to its rights under the Stock Repurchase Agreement. Until a final determination is made by the court, BayStar maintains its position as a Series A-1 Preferred stockholder of SCO.
Source: BayStar Capital |
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According to SCO, at the root of the disagreement are BayStar's claims that there are inconsistencies between public and private statements made by the software company. BayStar wants SCO to provide documentary evidence to support its recent public claims about the SCOsource business.
SCO maintains that it has been a paragon of virtue and transparency throughout, and that everything it said publicly and privately is true. But, and this should come as no surprise, it won't hand over the documents BayStar wants to see. It says this is to "protect the confidential and proprietary nature of the information" and to "avoid fostering speculation regarding its SCOsource business".
SCO's stock fell slightly on the news, ending the day at $4.20.
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