Australian co-founders of software company SpringSource win big in $500 million takeover deal

One of the Australian co-founders of software company SpringSource, which has been acquired by virtualisation giant VMware for $500 million, says he is “very happy” with the terms of the deal that will see employees gain millions in a generous share deal.

While the open-source provider operates out of Silicon Valley, principal software engineer and co-founder Ben Alex works at the company’s Sydney office.

Alex says the $500 million acquisition, which includes cash and equity as well as just under $70 million in invested stock and options, will see employees financially rewarded through the scheme.

“I am a founder, and I have shares, so obviously I’m quite happy about it. We have a generous share and employee option for our people, and we are very happy with the outcome,” he says.

While the details of the founders’ share holdings are unknown, even a 1% share in the company could result in a payday of more than $5 million. It is understood that most of the company’s 150 employees own a small slice of SpringSource.

For now, Alex says “business will continue as usual” and that the Australian team is very excited about the deal.

“It’s still early days, and there still needs to be a review in the US about all of this, but once that occurs there will be an integration of services. Until then, it’s business as usual and we’re very much looking forward to seeing our operations combined. People in the local office are very happy.”

Another Australian SpringSource co-founder Rod Johnson, who heads up the Silicon Valley office, told ITnews.com.au that the company has “tremendous potential”.

“Gartner was telling us our developer community numbered over two million,” he said. “We’ve been able to grow the business 100% year-on-year. We felt we were doing a whole lot of things right.”

“Fundamentally, VMware is a software company that helps people manage and simplify their IT assets, compared to traditional approaches,” Johnson said. “It has parallels to what we do – we simplify from the development perspective.”

He also said the deal is a good one for employees, because VMware includes incentives for current staff to remain on board.
“They are showing that not only in terms of the existing options of SpringSource but also the very generous retention packages offered in addition,” he said.