Scalix bought by Sebring for $12M

[thatitguy]

Hello Scalix folks
I presume there's someone still monitoring the forums? It would very much behoove you to put up some sort of announcement about the buyout, and what it means for your remaining ecosystem of partners (like rbTech) and customers.

I've spent a few minutes looking for any sign of life on these forums from Scalix folks and have found absolutely none. Nor have I heard anything through our reseller channels, or anywhere else outside of Google news [1], and the Sebring press release[2].

Without going on a rant about Scalix's incredibly deafening silence for the past 18+ months, it would be really great both as a customer and a reseller, to hear *something* from you folks about what's going on (we heard about the buyout as a sidebar to an inquiry to one of your competitors as we shop for other messaging systems for our Scalix client base of ~30 companies). Barring that, we'll continue our customer's steady migration to your competitors' messaging platforms, because we can't responsibly do anything else.

Here's hoping for something from Scalix other than more radio silence...
Rubin

[1] http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=nn&q=scalix
[2] http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2011/07/12/5630037.htm

[eddieedwards]

*crickets chirping*

[Valerion]

Not much to say about this. But we as a company are waiting to see when the next release comes out.

This is good news, however.

[anybody]

Amazing, they paid $12M for it and don't even care to put this in the "News" section of the Scalix homepage or make a post in the forum.

I guess they really must have lost login/pass for updating the website. Or Sebring just doesn't care because they were more interested in something else (employees? IP?). Google for example usually shuts down most companies they buy. But at least they are vocal about it when they do so...

Hard to predict the future, but from what it looks so far the Sebring buyout doesn't seem to have changed the policy of not communicating with the user base.

[SidebandSamurai]

It gets even better.

I have had a look at their financials from Yahoo Finance. They are a dollar stock. Actually they are under a dollar. .90 cents to be exact.

Link:

Code: Select all

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sebring-Software-Inc-bw-2355535763.html?x=0&.v=1

Also have a look at their website: Carefully read the text of the website. Go to the FAQ, and note how many questions are repeated. They did not even proof the site before it went on-line. This really feels like a new startup. The description of their server software sounds really ambiguous. No specifics, they don't tell you how many adapters they have, and what software they connect to.

Link:

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http://sebringsoft.com/

No Jobs are posted, and the Scalix team has lost some developers during this last change, so I would think they would be looking to hire some people to replace the ones that left. It would not make sense to me to purchase enterprise software and not announce it on their own website. How does this software fit in their whole company model?

I was really happy when Xandros purchased Scalix. It made sense. This does not make sense .. yet. I sure hope this is not the beginning of the end. Its like the lights are on and no-one is at home.

Sideband Samurai

[thatitguy]

I have still heard absolutely no official word of any sort, but the continued silence, combined with what looks like a strawman as a buyer for an unbelievable amount of money given their paltry sales last year and aging IP and codebase, doesn't instill confidence on any level. No word from Xandros, no word from Scalix, a website (Sebring's) full of "please give us your money, rich investors" speak, and ultimately nothing but rumor and innuendo. Add to that the fact that Sebring was organized in December and to my eyes hasn't actually done a thing so far, and my decision is clear. My company has officially abandoned hope and we are actively moving our clients to another messaging and groupware solution. At this point it would take an immediate, major code release and a serious amount of smooth talking to get us to stop the migration. And I can personally guarantee that once gone, my company, and our clients, will not be back. Ever.

<rant>
Scalix has consistently squandered customer and community goodwill with crap management, and to my eyes as a reseller for at least 6 years, that is a thread that follows their entire existence and shows no sign of changing. It will (or already has) ensured an untimely and unnecessary end of what should have been a very successful company and product.

RIP Scalix, may your next incarnation be run by people who know how to manage a company, and (gasp) communicate with your customers. And while you were doing whatever is was that you've been doing for the last 2 years, your competitors have been busily preparing to kick your asses and take all of your customers. If you thought $2.2million[1] was a bad year, folks, just wait til next year.
</rant>

[1] $2.2million is the figure quoted in the Sebring press release announcing their intent to buy Scalix: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sebring-software-inc-announced-the-acquisition-of-award-winning-scalix-email-and-calendaring-platform-from-xandros-inc-2011-07-12

[afassl]

This was posted 12.7.2011

http://sebringsoft.com/news/sebring-software-inc-announced-the-acquisition-of-award-winning-scalix-email-and-calendaring-platform/

[afassl]

Sebring Software, Inc. Announced the Acquisition of Award Winning Scalix Email and Calendaring Platform
Posted: July 12, 2011
SARASOTA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sebring Software, Inc. (OTC BB: SMXI) a collaborative integration software company offering on-premises and CLOUD solutions, today announced the acquisition of Award winning Scalix Email and Calendaring Platform from Xandros, Inc.

Sebring Software, Inc. announced the recent signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Scalix Corporation from Xandros, Inc. Scalix was acquired by Sebring for a total purchase price of $12 million or 5.66 times 2010 revenues. The payments are $5,750,000 in cash and 6,250,000 common shares of Sebring’s stock, which for this transaction was valued at $6,250,000 or $1.00 per share. The cash payments are being made over six months, and the stock to Xandros will be issued following the cash payments.

Sebring Software, Inc. CEO Leif Andersen said: “We are very pleased to have executed an agreement to acquire Scalix Corporation, whose platform we believe is truly the most robust Linux-based e-mail and calendaring platform available today. Just as the market is moving to the more reliable and affordable Linux-based solutions, we are confident that the multi-billion corporate market for e-mail, calendaring and collaboration software will also move towards Linux-based solutions. As more and more companies move to CLOUD-based solutions, Linux-based systems such as Scalix will be the winners. Linux-based systems are simply more affordable and far more reliable.”

Andreas Typaldos, CEO of Xandros, Inc. commented:

“Clearly, Sebring Sofware’s executives are not alone in their enthusiasm for Linux-based e-mail platforms. In recent years we have witnessed the acquisitions of competitors to Scalix such as the acquisition of Zimbra by VMware (NYSE: VMW), after Yahoo had first purchased it for $350M, and the acquisition of PostPath by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) for $225 million. As a result of the sale of Scalix, we are becoming a major shareholder of Sebring Software, Inc. We believe that Sebring has a bright future and an opportunity to offer us a significant upside return through the potential appreciation of the price of Sebring Software’s common stock.

The single focus and the financial resources that Sebring plans to put into Scalix will allow fast ramp-up of the Scalix opportunity, as well as faster and more efficient support of both new customer opportunities and existing customer needs than was possible within Xandros. Conversely, the sale of Scalix allows Xandros to more exclusively focus resources on products that it has developed and is marketing through strategic development alliances with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

This sale also reflects our vote of confidence in the management team at Sebring Software, led by Leif Andersen, who is an experienced executive with a proven track record of success. We look forward to working with Leif and the team at Sebring Software to assure that this acquisition of Scalix Corp. delivers significant value to all Sebring shareholders.”

Leif Andersen continued, “Working together with the existing team at Scalix, we have developed an aggressive marketing campaign that will enable us to build on the initial success Scalix has already achieved in the marketplace. With existing technology partners such as IBM (NYSE: IBM), Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), Microsoft and many others, we are confident that we can execute on our marketing plan. I cannot emphasize enough the tremendous opportunity for Sebring Software and our shareholders that this acquisition represents.”

Scalix was initially developed by HP through a significant R&D effort and was deployed into the market as a free email system as HP OpenMail, before it was taken up to be commercialized by venture-backed Scalix Inc. Scalix was subsequently sold to Xandros in 2007 where the product was enhanced through an email technology licensing agreement with Microsoft.

The Scalix e-mail and calendaring platform is used by over 1,300 corporations in more than 65 countries.

In 2010 Scalix had gross revenues of $2,210,210 with income from operations of $441,596 and comprehensive income after currency translation adjustments of $561,360.

About Sebring Software, Inc.

Sebring Software (OTC BB: SMXI) is an emerging collaborative software integration company offering on premises and CLOUD based solutions to a variety of enterprise customers, both directly and through a network of technology partners, distribution partners, and resellers. Sebring Software’s business plan is to license and acquire software platforms that reduce IT infrastructure costs and increase enterprise efficiency, productivity, and profitability. For more information visit www.sebringsoft.com

About Xandros, Inc.

Xandros is the leader in providing seamless Windows-Linux interoperability on a variety of platforms. Leveraging its leading role in helping launch the mobile netbook revolution with the award-winning Linux-based Eee PC from ASUS, Xandros expanded its Windows-Linux interoperability focus beyond mobile devices and netbooks into the enterprise applications space through strategic technology alliances and funding from Microsoft. As a result, the Company’s BridgeWays subsidiary now delivers cross-platform monitoring applications management packs to provide seamless end-to-end management of business critical applications on Windows, Linux and UNIX environments from one console utilizing the Microsoft System Center platform. The Company’s Scalix subsidiary delivers Linux-based on-premises and CLOUD award-winning email, calendaring and messaging products and services. Xandros is headquartered in New York, with R&D offices in Ottawa, Canada; Bracknell, UK; Frankfurt, Germany; and Mumbai, India. For more information, please visit www.xandros.com.

[thatitguy]

And still not a sound from any official channel (or even unofficial channel) at either Xandros or Scalix. Rather typifies the style of communication I've come to expect from Scalix management over the years.

We migrated our in-house messaging to a competitor's solution last week, and our clients have begun their exodus as well. Given the increasingly flaky performance from Scalix on a few of our sites, I think it's all for the best. RIP, Scalix, it was fun while it lasted.

Rubin

[RickC]

Hi Rubin, which email did you migrate to?

Thanks,

Rick

[thatitguy]

Out of professional courtesy, I won't answer that on the forum. You can message me privately and i'll cheerfully share my experiences: rbennett@rbtechvt.com

Rubin