Here comes Corel!
Utahns will have a new high-tech company to get to know as of Friday. Corel Corp.'s acquisition of Novell's business applications division is expected to be completed by next week.The Ottawa-based company will waste little time in taking over operations.
Corel CEO Michael Cowpland and other company officials will meet with employees of the business applications group Friday at the Scera Theater in Orem. A press conference is scheduled that afternoon at Novell's Orem campus.
During those meetings, Corel will introduce itself to its new employees and describe its plans for the future.
The company will call the new division Corel USA and intends to keep operations in Utah County. In fact, Corel will bring its Ventura division, which makes a desktop publishing program, to Utah.
The division has about 50 employees, said spokeswoman Fiona Rochester.
"People are really excited about the potential synergies between Ventura and WordPerfect," Rochester said. "That's why we wanted to make sure those products being developed are in close proximity."
Windows 95 versions of both Corel VENTURA and WordPerfect will debut this spring. Corel plans to roll out the new edition of WordPerfect in May during a "big event" in Utah, Rochester said.
But other details about what the future may hold are fuzzy. There are rumors that some jobs in Novell's business applications group will be trimmed in the coming month. It's also unclear how many buildings Corel intends to occupy at Novell's Orem campus.
Rochester said Corel officials will likely be able to answer such questions Friday as they introduce the company to Utah.
So who is Corel? Cowpland started the company in 1985 as a systems-integration business. Corel introduced the first version of its flagship product Corel-DRAW in 1989, and graphics software quickly became the company's focus.
Corel has introduced an updated version of the graphics program every year since then - an achievement it is committed to so customers have the latest, greatest graphics capability. Corel bought Ventura Publisher and DataBase Publisher, desktop publishing programs, in 1983. In the past year the company has launched a line of general consumer computer programs. The Corel CD HOME titles include games such as Wild Cards, the Corel All-Movie guide, Adventures with Edison and other children's programs.
"They are a clever player and are admired for their success in the market," said Amy Wohl, an analyst with Wohl & Associates. "Corel has really good management, and they've done a good job running their own company."
The company's fortunes sagged last year, a dip it attributed to slower acceptance than expected of the Windows 95 operating environment. Corel had record sales but made less money. Corel's net income was $14.5 million in fiscal 1995, compared to $32.5 million in fiscal 1994.
Cowpland said in January the company's strategy would be to diversify its product line, particularly in multimedia titles. He also said the new CorelVIDEO product, a videoconferencing program that will hit the market later this year, could boost the company's pros-pects.
"We have exciting new products that will access the growing interest in the Internet as well as multimedia titles that will continue to provide broad public access to learning and entertainment," Cowpland said in January.
Corel's diversification plans were really boosted at the end of January when it agreed to buy Novell's business applications group, which includes Word-Per-fect and Quattro Pro, in a deal worth $186 million in cash and stock at the time. The purchase will at minimum double Corel's size.
While some industry watchers have chided Corel for the acquisition, others think Corel may give WordPerfect the attention it needs to regain market supremacy.
"I think this acquisition is the best acquisition I could think of that WordPerfect could have gotten," Wohl said. "You're getting a company that is a global vendor of a complex software package. It understands what it means to support software."
That was something many critics say Novell fumbled after buying WordPerfect in March 1994 for $855 million.
Corel may benefit even more from the purchase. It gains access to a well-developed base of customers and technology partners, as well as heightened credibility, Wohl said.
"WordPerfect changed everything (for Corel)," Wohl said. "It made them a major player."
Cowpland told the Montreal Gazette earlier this month the acquisition lets Corel take on Microsoft in the software market in a "Pepsi-Coke" style competition.
Wohl said that while the acquisition gives Corel an opportunity, it also brings plenty of challenges.
"The customers are willing to give them a chance, but competitors see this as the opportunity of the century. Microsoft sees this as an opportunity to convert the competition, and Lotus sees this as an opportunity to increase market share," Wohl said.
Back home in Ottawa, Corel and its chairman are a colorful part of the Canadian scene.
The company just agreed to pay $31 million over the next 20 years to get its name on Ottawa's Palladium sports arena, home of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.
The Corel Centre, as it will be called, already has been dubbed the OK Corel by wags, according to press reports.
Cowpland is a sports buff, reflected in the company's sponsorship and support of a variety of athletic events. Cowpland is particularly fond of tennis - a devotion he shares with WordPerfect founder Alan Ashton.
Corel also holds an annual design competition that draws entries from around the world. This year's event will include $3 million in prize money.
Cowpland is also flamboyant, illustrated by the new $3 million, 20,000 square foot, gold-tinted home he recently built in Ottawa's Rockcliffe Park district. It has matching his-and-hers squash courts and a 10-car underground garage. According to the Vancouver Sun, the home is a tourist attraction, with as many as 200 people a day driving by to look.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A corel resume
COREL
Founded: June 1985
Located: Ottawa, Canada. Corel also has a subsidiary Corel Corp. Limited in Dublin, Ireland.
Leader: Michael Cowpland, who started the company, is president., CEO and chairman.
Employees: 600+, not inncluding the soon-to-be acquired Novel business applications group
Achievements: Corel is a leader in graphics and small computer system interface software.
Net income in fiscal 1995: $32.5 million on sales of $164.3 million.
Net income in fiscal 1995: $14.5 million on sales of 196.4 million.
Products: CorelDRAW; CorelVIDEO; Corel CD CREATOR; CorelFLOW; Corel SCSI; Corel ART SHOW; Corel VENTURA; Corel PHOTO-PAINT; Corel SCSI Network Manager; Corel GALLERY; Corel CD Power; Corel Professional Photos; and Corel ART SHOW. Tidbit Corel is a sponsor or supporter of many sport events, including Women's Tennis Association Tour, NHL Senators, the Ottawa 67's hockey team, Team U.S. A. rugby and swimming events.