Mandrakesoft is acquiring all shares of Conectiva for a total amount of 1.79 million EURO in stock.

Mandrakesoft, an European Linux company, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Conectiva, a Linux company in Brazil for a total amount of 1.79 million EURO (2.3 million USD) in stock.

According to the company, the acquisition is in line with Mandrakesoft's strategy to expand through both organic and external growth and the choice of Conectiva was based on the cultural fit which exists between the two companies. Both the companies are members of Linux Core Consortium (LCC), which has started development of a common implementation of the Linux Standard Base. The combined companies will build their next corporate releases on top of the LCC implementation.

"This merger is a great opportunity for Mandrakesoft and Conectiva. It is clear that it will strengthen us by creating commercial and technological value", said Jaques Rosenzvaig, CEO of Conectiva. "The merger also positions the resulting company as a leading worldwide provider of Linux."

"Combining the two businesses enables us to extend the scope of our offering and address more businesses by compounding development and commercial assets, resulting in strong synergies", added François Bancilhon, CEO of Mandrakesoft. "Mandrakesoft and Conectiva are dedicated to delivering innovative and quality products with a high level of personalized services to our customers. Our aggregated strengths will enhance extensive deployments, thus providing greater opportunity for continued expansion."