WESTBOROUGH, Mass., March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Peritus Software Services,
Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PTUS), a provider of solutions for software
maintenance, today announced that Rocket Software, Inc., a privately held
software company, invested $4,000,000 in Peritus.
Under the terms of the Agreement, which was negotiated over the past few
months, Rocket Software invested $4,000,000 in cash in Peritus in exchange for
10,000,000 restricted shares of Peritus common stock ($.40 per share). The
shares represent approximately 37% of the total shares outstanding after the
investment and the Company has granted Rocket certain registration rights with
respect to the shares. In early April, Andrew Youniss, President and Co-
founder of Rocket, and Johan Magnusson, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder
of Rocket are expected to be elected to the Peritus Board of Directors joining
existing Directors Dominic Chan, Axel Leblois, and Roland Pampel.
In addition to the investment, Peritus expects Matt Kelley, Rocket's Chief
Technology Officer, to join the existing Peritus Research and Development team
in its efforts to extend the Peritus SAM Workbench product. Rocket Software
is expected to facilitate the introductions of Peritus to the Rocket customer
base and work closely with Peritus in any other areas that are of strategic
benefit to both companies.
Based on today's closing price of Peritus common stock of $.80 per share,
the Company will record a one-time charge related to the investment of
approximately $4,000,000 in the first quarter ending March 31, 2000.
"We are thrilled by the investment being made by Rocket which strengthens
our financial standing and provides needed funding for our Research and
Development and Sales and Marketing efforts," said John Giordano, President
and CEO of Peritus. "The addition of Matt to our R&D team will provide key
technical expertise as we further enhance our SAM Workbench product to support
the renewal and web enablement of legacy applications. We are also hopeful
that Rocket's introductions of Peritus to its customer base will help us to
drive additional sales."
"We believe that there continues to be a strong need for Peritus' software
maintenance outsourcing services, and the new SAM Workbench product is an
excellent extension of the Company's strong technology base." said Johan
Magnusson, Co-founder of Rocket. "Our investment of $4,000,000 is a clear
indication of our confidence in the ability of the Company to succeed."
About Peritus
Founded in 1991, Peritus Software Services, Inc. offers products and
services that enable organizations to improve the productivity, effectiveness
and quality of the software evolution process. Peritus is headquartered in
Westborough, MA. For more information, see the Peritus web site at
http://www.peritus.com.
Contact: Ron Garabedian
Treasurer
Peritus Software Services, Inc.
508-870-0963
Fax: 508-870-0764
E-Mail: rgarabedian@peritus.com
Peritus is a registered trademark and SAM Workbench is a trademark of
Peritus Software Services, Inc.
About Rocket
Founded in 1990, Rocket Software, Inc. is a software engineering
organization providing enterprise class software products and services.
Rocket is headquartered in Natick, MA. For more information, see the Rocket
web site at http://www.rocketsoftware.com.
Contact: Johan Magnusson
Rocket Software, Inc.
508-655-4321
Fax: 508-655-9447
E-Mail: johan@rocketsoftware.com
SOURCE Peritus Software Services, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.peritus.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/123089.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 123089
CONTACT:
Ron Garabedian of Peritus Software Services,
Inc., 508-870-0963, or rgarabedian@peritus.com; or Johan
Magnusson of Rocket Software, Inc., 508-655-4321, or
johan@rocketsoftware.com
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