Novell to increase investment in India

By agencies   |   Friday, 26 August 2005, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Novell Inc. said on Thursday it would buy the 50 percent held by its Indian joint venture partner, Onward Network Technologies Ltd., in their sales and distribution joint venture. Novell will integrate Onward Novell Software (I) Ltd. with its research and development (R&D) center in Bangalore and focus on selling Linux products in India, it said in a statement. Novell, a network software pioneer, is expanding in the Linux update and support services market to tap into growth in the open-source software, which can be copied and modified freely. "By increasing our investment in India, we are well positioned to help drive Linux and open-source adoption not just in India, but in other emerging Asian markets as well," said Rhonda O'Donnell, president of Novell Asia-Pacific. The Onward Novell joint venture started in 1992 and the R&D center, Novell Software Development (I) Pvt. Ltd., was set up in 1994. After the integration, Novell India will employ 450 staff.