Press Room
Palm Aquires Assets and Hires Key Talent From Be in Stock Deal
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug 17, 2001 - Palm, Inc. the leading
provider of operating systems for use in handheld computers
and the leading provider of handhelds, and Be Incorporated
(Nasdaq: BEOS) today announced they have signed an asset purchase
agreement for Palm to acquire the intellectual property and
technology assets technology assets of Be. Palm has also made
employment offers to key Be's engineering teams. The approximate
value of the purchase price is $11 million, to be paid in
Palm stock, following approval from Be shareholders and the
satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
This is the third announcement Palm has made in recent weeks
in support of its Palm OS* Platform business. The company
extended its licensing program to include ARM silicon suppliers
(July 24), announced intentions to separate the Platform Solutions
Group into a wholly owned subsidiary by the end of calendar
2001 (July 27), and is now augmenting its future capability
in development tools, and user-centric communications, Internet,
and multimedia technologies.
"The technology and people from Be are highly regarded,"
said Carl Yankowski, Palm chief executive officer. "We
look forward to them joining forces with our own outstanding
engineers on future versions of the Palm OS. This move will
help us expand the PalmOS platform into broader markets using
their multimedia media and Internet expertise."
Be Chief Executive Officer Jean-Louis Gassée will assist
Palm in integrating the technology and talent through a temporary
advisory relationship, effective upon closing of the transaction.
He also will provide strategic advice related to the anticipated
separation of the Palm Platform business from the Solutions
Group. He will report to the Platform Solutions Group Committee
of the Palm Board of Directors.
"I look forward to working closely with Palm to quickly
integrate Be's technology and talent into the Palm Platform
Solutions Group," said Gassée. "The Be team
moving to Palm is enthusiastic about collaborating on so many
subjects of mutual strength and devotion -- superior operating
system software, attention to end users and the high value
our people we place on our developer community."
"Be's focus on developers is a strong complement to our
commitment to work with the more than 165,000 Palm OS developers
to help make them successful in the Palm Economy," said
Yankowski.
Palm also announced the resignation of Alan Kessler, general
manager, Platform Solutions Group. Kessler, who is leaving
Palm effective Aug. 17, did not disclose his plans.
"Palm is a great company with an exciting future, and
I'm honored to have served here since prior to the company
spinning off from 3Com," said Kessler. "I'm ready,
however, to move on to a new challenge."
Eric Benhamou, chairman of the Palm Board of directors and
a member of the Platform Solutions Group Committee of the
board, will act as chief executive officer of the Platform
Solutions Group until a permanent replacement is named. He
will work closely with Yankowski, a fellow member of the board
committee, and David C. Nagel, who is chairman of the board
committee.
"We thank Alan for his contributions to Palm and wish
him all the best," said Yankowski. "Our developers
have grown from 20,000 to more than 165,000 under his leadership,
and he's managed along with the successful introductions of
Palm OS's 3.5 and 4.0, and the addition of several important
licensees."
The Platform Solutions Group develops the Palm OS(R) platform
and licenses it to makers of handheld computers including
HandEra, Handspring, Sony, Symbol and Palm's Solutions Group,
and smartphone makers including Kyocera and Samsung. New licensees
announced this year are Acer, which plans to take the OS to
Chinese–speaking customers in Asia–Pacific, and
Garmin, a leader in global–positioning satellite products.
More than 16 million Palm Powered(TM) handhelds have been
shipped. According to market–research firms, the Palm
OS is used in 76 percent of all personal digital assistants.
(1) IDC: 76 percent of worldwide Personal Companion share,
2000.
Safe-harbor statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements about
the impact of Palm's acquisition of assets and hiring employees
of Be. These statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties,
including approval by the Be stockholders, the satisfaction
of other closing conditions and the need for the company to
successfully integrate Be's employees and technologies.
About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless
Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers,
according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS®
platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry
and access their most critical information with them wherever
they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals,
enterprises and educational institutions through thousands
of application solutions.
The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony, and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Acer, Garmin, Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and more than 160,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at www.palm.com
Palm OS is a registered trademark, and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries.
