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Linux seller to go public
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June 6, 1999: 8:31 p.m. ET
Red Hat Software hopes to raise $96 million in IPO
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Red Hat Inc., a distributor of the software alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system, is going public.
Red Hat Inc. announced Friday that it had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its first-ever sale of stock to the public.
Red Hat said it planned to raise $96.6 million through the initial public offering. The company said it applied to trade on Nasdaq under the stock symbol "RHAT.O."
The company did not disclose the number of shares it will offer nor the estimated range for share prices.
The offering will be made through Goldman Sachs & Co., Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and E*Trade Securities Inc. Red Hat is a developer and provider of open source software and services, including Red Hat Linux operating system.
Linux was invented by former University of Helsinki student Linus Torvalds and may be downloaded free over the Internet. In perhaps the most significant move so far in support of Linux, IBM (IBM) said in February that it would sell computers running on Linux.
Although Linux is available for free, most corporate users opt to pay for the system and its attendant support through distributors such as Red Hat.
In the server market, where Linux competes with Windows NT, Linux sales surged 212 percent last year versus a 27.2 percent gain for Windows NT, according to research firm International Data Corp. The jump gave Linux roughly 17 percent of the market last year compared with about 36 percent for NT.
In March, a number of computer heavyweights joined the Linux bandwagon. IBM, Compaq, Oracle and Novell agreed to take an equity stake in Red Hat. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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