MandrakeSoft Going Public In France July 30 83
LiteForce writes: "MandrakeSoft are going public on July 30th on the European Stock Exchange. U.S. residents are not currently eligible to take part (only French residents are permitted). You can read the scoop on MandrakeSoft's site here." This is the IPO (then in progress) mentioned here shortly ago, but now they have the go-ahead; there's also an exchange on Mandrake's discussion forum. Congratulations over there!
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:1)
To be fair, the FBI will try to get you wherever you are from as well. In conclusion, it sucks to be the little guy. Thank you.
ahh, a perfect example of French snottiness (Score:1)
Visions of the whole RedHat IPO scandal, floatin' through my mind...nothin' like excluding your user base and most of your developers!
Re:Forbidden fruit (Score:1)
Re:Austrailian Jedi's get thru! (Score:1)
does it strike anyone as slightly odd... (Score:2)
Why it's not available in the US (Score:3)
When IPOs go to the nouveau marche or second marche, for which you have more conditions to fulfill, and where most mid and small caps go, anyone can subscribe.
What the foreigner deal? (Score:2)
Anyone know what the legalise is? Appearently Canadians, Americans, Austrillians, and a few other cannot invest in this.
Now I can understand their IPO might not be legal in those countries, and I can understand that they might have decided not to allocate pre-IPO stock to anyone from those countries. I'm fairly sure however that once they IPO there is nothing to prevent people from those countries from investing in the stock if they want to.
Still, it is fairly easy to agree that you are not a US citician and get the information, such as it is. (not much)
So is there a french law in effect here?
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:2)
So either our help in the wars was a thank you for it, or they still owe us
No US Investors (Score:3)
ooo lala (Score:1)
France only... hah (Score:3)
Re:Say no to IPO (Score:1)
Indication of the real market? (Score:1)
Watch this one closely...
Re:Oro....? (Score:2)
Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
Re:No such thing as the "European Stock Exchange" (Score:2)
Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
Re:bummer... (Score:1)
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Re:I IPO in your general direction (Score:2)
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Re:No such thing as the "European Stock Exchange" (Score:1)
The Euronext [euronext.com] stock exchange where the other reply to this post says that Mandrakesoft will IPO is the merger of only 3 of Europe's stock exchanges.
Re:Mandatory Simpson's Quote (Score:1)
"They even have Groundskeeper Willie teaching French."
"Bonjourrrrrr, ya cheese eatin surrrender-monkies!"
Re:Mandatory Simpson's Quote (Score:1)
And I do know that the French helped us out in the Revolution. Baron DeKalb, a Frenchman killed at the Battle of Camden (my home town) is the only person buried on the grounds of the church I went to as a kid.
France and the US make jokes about each other, but I really think it doesn't mean any more than two rival schools making jokes about each other. Its usually pretty childish, but its also usually pretty harmless.
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:2)
I always make a point of differentiating between the French of the 1770s and the French of the 1930s when making retreat&surrender jokes. There is a French officer, Baron DeKalb, buried in the churchyard of the church I went to as a kid. He was killed at the Battle of Camden (where Cornwalis was headquartered for most of the war), and the main drag where US1 goes through town, is named DeKalb street. One of the main town parks is Lafayette Square.
Some Americans know our history.
Re:Americans can't even read about the deal? (Score:2)
Protectionism was rampant throughout the Western world in the 19th century, and the American South was opposed to it, to the point where South Carolina drew up articles of nullification, nullifying two federal tarrif acts, in the 1840s prompting President Jackson to draw up articles of force authorizing the use of the US Army to prevent South Carolina from ceceding from the Union. This is 15 years before the start of the civil war. After the civil war the political power of the south is of course almost nil, and the protectionism by the industrialists of the north goes unchallenged for most of the rest of the century.
Much of my fact checking and timeline checking was done using The History Channel [historychannel.com]'s website, with the remainder being filled in from my high school and college history courses over a decade ago, so there may be mistakes and distortions here.
Re: revolutions..... (Score:2)
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:1)
It isn't France's doing (Score:1)
Re:Say no to IPO (Score:3)
BUY SOME MANDRAKESOFT STOCK!!
Get your own voice in the company and be heard. The company goes the way the stockholders say, and if the stockholders say "go for the long term," then they'll go for the long term.
The problem is with the stock holders and their new "more more more now now now" approach. If you think you'd be better, then buy your way into mandrakesoft BEFORE they do.
Re:Say no to IPO (Score:2)
Re:From an American Pig Dog (Score:1)
PETA - People for the Eating of Tasty Animals
Linux-Mandrake Community Newsletter - special flas (Score:1)
Subject:
Linux-Mandrake Community Newsletter - special flash
Date:
Thu, 19 Jul 2001 22:33:04 +0200 (CEST)
From:
Mandrake Team
Mandrakesoft yesterday got the formal approval from the COB (Commission
des Operations en Bourse - the french regulatory organisation) to be
listed on the Euronext european stock market "Marché Libre". The listing
should start on the 3rd of August.
After the recent big success of its Mandrake Linux operating system in
terms of market penetration, MandrakeSoft's listing is an important step
for the company to gain still more exposure and more credibility on the
corporate IT markets.
We will soon provide more informations on our web site
(http://www.mandrakesoft.com).
MandrakeSoft's President Jacques Le Marois would like to thank everyone
who helped make this listing possible:
- all the Mandrakesoft team that helped to build the company
- the shareholders who funded it
- the contributors who helped to improve the product
- the users who helped by spreading the good word about our products
------------
Microsoft will sue... (Score:3)
After all, softie probably has a copyright on the word "soft".
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:1)
Unfortunately, the Germans had their attack so precisely planned against France in the event of a European war that by the time Kaiser Wilhelm was made aware of this, and attempted to call off the preemptive invasion of France, his generals were fully in control and would allow no interference.
This fact, combined with Kaiser Wilhelm's intentional arms race with Britain, does place a fair amount of responsibility on Germany's shoulders. Russia's government probably would have fallen almost instantly in the force of a combined Austria-Hungary and German assault.
Oh, and the Ottoman Empire, my understanding is, never wanted to be in the war in the first place, but were persuaded by German economic pressure. I don't blame them for not wanting in, they ended up being something of a testbed for risky, experimental military strategies (Lawrence of Arabia doing nationalist guerilla warfare, and the Australia/New Zealand amphibious assault at Galipoli coming immediately to mind), and what was left of their country was dismantled after the war, as with Austria-Hungary.
In some ways, Germany got off pretty easy, at least they got to keep their country, no one tried to split them back up into Holy Roman Empire states!
The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.
Re:Forbidden fruit (Score:1)
So are there legal rammifacations in this forum for all the people distrubting info on the page cause god knows I'm a US person and I can read this forum? Seems like a stupid stipulation to have on a page publically available on the web and written in english and not the native language of the country that the IPO is directed at (as was mentioned earlier in a different post).
I got a "Community Member Benefit" email, But ... (Score:2)
U.S. residents are not currently eligible to take part (only French residents are permitted).
that is odd, although i am not doubting it, but i got an email from Mandrakesoft asking me to fill out an html form for my personal information as i was a "Community Member/Contributor" (i am a credited linux kernel contributor).
i assumed this was for IPO (or other stock) access, but the CREDITS file clearly lists me as a US resident -- so, if the stock is French-only, why did they bother? i questioned originally why i received the notice because i assumed the stock would be in a french market and thus off-limits to me.
perhaps there are some other benefits? did anyone else receive the email? i was not planning taking advantage of the offer, but it was interesting nonetheless.
-- Robert
A thought to ponder... (Score:1)
This is a country that thinks Jerry Lewis and David Hasselhof is quality entertainment.
I'm not sure how this would affect the Mandrake IPO, but it will either be REALLY good or REALLY bad.
Good luck Mandrake - I hope you know what you're doing...
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:2)
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Re:USian vs. the French (Score:2)
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Re:Americans can't even read about the deal? (Score:1)
By the way, please allow me to be as stupid and nationalist as you are: we bailed your ass twice (independence and 1812) against the Brits, and that did not prevent you from adopting a fully protectionist trade policy against us during the whole 19th century, until 1914. So I really don't see your point.
Re:Americans can't even read about the deal? (Score:2)
> help in the war (I don't know of it, but its
> possible)
Does "marquis de Lafayette" sound familiar to you
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:2)
The Maginot line made more sense than it is thought today. Many people think that it was designed to stop the Germans, which is not the case: it was designed to make sure that the Germans would have to go around (via the North and a more difficult natural environment), so that the French would know where to wait for them. Indeed, they did go around, but not exactly where expected, and the French did not stop them anyway.
To me, the key mistake in French's strategy has been to send large, mediocre, non-professional troops, while the Germans had sent small, elite, highly professional units. Sending professional units was the right strategy because neither the German nor the French populace were motivated and willing to fight: the memories of WWI (read: by far the most horrible butchery in the history of the world) were fresh.
On a side note, this kind of situation is typical of a fight between a democratic country and a despotic country; the first battles, as Tocqueville predicted, are always lost by the democratic country. And then the democratic country can win if the conflict lasts. But, well, because the memories of WWI were too fresh, almost nobody in France wanted the conflict to last: peace was all what mattered, whatever the cost.
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:2)
Otherwise, on the respective responsibilities for WWI... you're right of course, that all the belligerents have a significant share of responsibility. Still, the Austrian empire and Russia are more responsible than others. For years, there had been numerous Balkan crises in which the Austrian empire was involved, and the Austrian empire (and to, a lesser extent, the Ottoman empire and Russia) was for a large part responsible for the constant instabilities in this area.
When the Austrian empire declared war on Serbia, this crisis looked no different than the previous ones. But this is where Russia plays a key role: in the name of "Slavic solidarity" with Serbia, it declared war to the Austrian Empire without consulting its British and French allies. Then, because of the two alliance systems which had been put in place, the generalized war becomes unavoidable: Germany has to declare war to Russia, and in turn France and Britain have to declare war to Germany.
So, to put it short: the Austrian Empire was the main responsible for the constant regional instability, and Russia pulled the trigger that transformed this instability into WWI.
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:3)
Granted, the Versailles treaty is for a large part responsible for the collapse of the German economy and the hyperinflation of the early 20s. But these problems were basically solved in 1923-1924. Hitler came to power ten years later, and would have come to power anyway, with or without a Versailles treaty. Germany had been on an "experimental" mood for 130 years (i.e. since Fichte's speeches on the German nation) on how far it could push the idea of "one people, one nation" (and later "one people, one race, one nation"), and HAD TO, at some point, try an extreme experience.
The French behavior in 1919 is indeed shameful and revenge-inspired; Germany was not the real responsible for WWI; the Austrian empire and Russia were. But the Austrian empire had been destroyed, and the Communist Russia of 1918 was not the Tsarist Russia of 1914; Germany was the only one left, and somebody had to pay... The French behavior in the 30s, after Hitler seized power is also pathetic. Not to mention the absolute incompetence of its military leadership in 1940. But, still, the French cannot be considered responsible for the election of Hitler. The Germans were deeply antisemitic, even more than the rest of Europe (France included), obsessed with their vision of "one nation, one people, one race, one culture" and were doomed to put Hitler's vision in practice one way or another.
Otherwise, I do think that the USSR would have crushed nazi Germany even without the USA. But that's exactly the reason why I'm even more grateful to Americans to have invaded Normandy: at the end of the day, the US did not really save my country from Hitler, but it saved my country from Stalin. Hitler would not have lasted for long anyway, but the USSR did. Had France been part of the Soviet block, its "decline" and sufferings would have been much, much worse than what it endured during WWII.
OFFTOPIC: France and US history (Score:1)
Austrailian Jedi's get thru! (Score:1)
If you reported your religion as "Jedi" in the last census, you can access this information.
"By clicking on "I have read this important information" below,
if you are a physical person you hereby guarantee that:
1) You are residing in France
2) You are not a US resident nor a "US Person"
3) You are not an Australian nor a Canadian resident "
Well, Yoda said, "We are luminous beings, not this crude matter", so you're in, since you're not really a physical person!
Mandatory Simpson's Quote (Score:5)
Only residents of France, eh?
Hank Scorpio (getting ready to target the big laser): "By the way, Homer, what's your least favorite country, Italy or France?"
Homer: "France."
Scorpio: "Hah hah. Nobody ever says Italy."
--
Ack! (Score:1)
A Linux IPO.
Be afraid...be very very afraid!!
Re:France only... hah (Score:2)
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:1)
Foreign shareholder are allowed! (Score:1)
So if your broker don't have any problem to access to the IPO nobody will forbid you to subscribe.
If your broker don't allow you to access to the IPO you can open an account in a french broker like Startfinance [startfinance.com]
Of course - it will be probably easyer to buy share after the IPO.
USian vs. the French (Score:2)
When you look at the balance sheet it looks pretty even to me. I think the Normandy invasion and freeing the whole country should balance one big statue and a century or two of protectionism. They don't call it the longest day for nothing. Especially considering that we could have skipped the entire invasion and just waited until we had enough nukes and B36s to turn Germany into a waste land.
And if that doesn't balance things then trying to help France reclaim its empire in southeast asia certainly does.
So why don't we just call it even and get on with finding new reasons to hate each other? Honestly, I've never understood why we Americans love the British and hate the French it should be the other way around. (See what I said about Americans and rationality.)
StoneWolf
Easily picked if you're a member of the EU (Score:1)
Amusing IPO restrictions about Americans. Do you think it's possibly due to Red Hat's IPO being restricted to US citizens?
bummer... (Score:1)
Re:Say no to IPO (Score:1)
Restrictions, restrictions... (Score:1)
Re:Forbidden fruit (Score:1)
Re:What the foreigner deal? (Score:1)
Don't click that link ! (Score:4)
For legal reasons, the information contained in this site is exclusively aimed at, on the one hand, interested persons residing in France and, on the other hand, at interested non-US, Japanese, Australian and Canadian based institutional investors, nor at any institutional investors head quartered in any of the territories, possessions, protectorates under these countries' jurisdiction. If you do not reside in France, or if you are a "US Person" (as defined under Regulation S of the Securities Act 1933 of the USA, as modified) wherever you reside, you should not access this site's content. This Web site as well as all information contained therein must not be published nor distributed in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan, nor distributed to any "US Person".
Thank you for your understanding.
Re:Mandatory Simpson's Quote (Score:1)
Isn't that... (Score:2)
... like backstabbing people who just do something for the community?
... like selling something that is supposed to be free?
V
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:1)
Re:I have a (Score:1)
and besides, there's an interesting sentence at the end of the disclaimer:
"if you are an institutional investor, you hereby guarantee that you are not US, Japanese, Australian or Canadian based."
so, say u're a german institutional investor, wouldn't u be happy to have the version in english (instead of french only) ?
Re:I have a (Score:1)
for governments, the use is now to have it translated at least in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, and optionnaly in any other of the 11 languages of the EU... believe me, i've worked on this, and it's a nightmare: translation of legal texts seems to be a complex speciality, and managing all that stuff synchronously is pure hell !
That's probably why Mandrake only put French (they're French after all), and English versions.
Forbidden fruit (Score:1)
" By clicking on "I have read this important information" below, if you are a physical person you hereby guarantee that:
1) You are residing in France
2) You are not a US resident nor a "US Person"
3) You are not an Australian nor a Canadian resident
4) You are not a Japanese resident, nor a person residing in Japan
5) You commit to not distribute nor make available in any way, any of the information contained in this Web site to all persons living outside of France or to "US Persons"
[Big button begging to get pressed]
Am I the only person here who's extremely tempted to press?
Re:Forbidden fruit (Score:3)
The temptation was there and the will wasn't strong. So I looked (everyone say a quick prayer for the soul of MSBob) and I saw it all bare naked:
688,480 shares @ 6.2 euro/share.
Re:Interesting... (Score:1)
I IPO in your general direction (Score:5)
Re:USian vs. the French (Score:1)
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:2)
Man, we help them out in their civil war and two world wars! You'd think they'd be a little more grateful! I mean, all we got in return was a stupid statue!
Maginot Firewall (Score:3)
Ha! After the disaster with the Maginot Line, do you really think I'll use their distribution for my firewall!?
Oh, what an original post (Score:1)
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Re:Good point (Score:1)
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Re:Good point (Score:1)
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From an American Pig Dog (Score:2)
And I fart in your general direction!
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Re:USian vs. the French (Score:1)
It's a myth popular among francophobic, but it's just a myth
Well, it's the version of history taught in French schools, as well. So I wouldn't say it's specially "popular among francophobic" (unless we French are francophobic)
And... where did you read that the Versailles treaty was only France's doing? As far as I remember, it was all of the allies (including the UK, at least) ganging up against Germany, which had as you say been the only "ennemy" still in existence at that point.
Something else... Putting the blame for WWI on Austria (technically, the Austro-Hungarian empire) and Russia is about as wrong as putting it on Germany alone. WWI would never have started if it weren't for France wanting to reclaim Alsace and Lorraine, the UK wanting a fight, Southern Slavs wanting a country of their own, the Ottoman empire wanting to kick some Austro-Hungarian butt, and so on and so forth. Early 20th century Europe was a continent-wide barrel of gunpowder similar to today's Balkans; it had to go burst at one point. Nobody and everybody is, really, responsible.
Sacre BLEU! (Score:1)
Congrats!
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:1)
Re:Don't click that link ! (Score:1)
Not only did they help you, they won it for you! Blockaded the English in the Channel, won most of the 'American' victories in the War of Independence. Remember, Washington never beat the British in the field.
The British used to complain, when going on joint actions with the French, that the French always managed to charge first, thereby getting all the glory.
The first regiment to go in on the ground in the Gulf War was the French Foreign Legion. Hardest bastards on the planet, little fluffy SEALs included.
France lost *millions* in the First World War (combined British and American casulties for both wars were in the hundreds of thousands). They just didn't have the oomph to go the second round with the Germans. The Brits and Americans only invaded Europe when the Russians had done most of the fighting...
Oro....? (Score:2)
Going public, to be at the mercy of idiot investors... Something's odd here.
Screw 3...
Interesting... (Score:2)
2)They fired all their American staff, a couple months back...
I'm sure there's a connection here, but I'm just too thick to see it.
On the other hand, I had no problem paying for the boxed distro as long as I felt the money was actually going to the programmers and organization supporting them. I had even pondered buying a few shares for the same reason. Now, I'm more ambivalent. I -- get this: -- feel somewhat singled out because of my nationality.
Maybe it's time to move along to Debian after all...
No such thing as the "European Stock Exchange" (Score:1)
Say no to IPO (Score:5)
Although some folks might (and just might) be able to collect on their options, for the rest of us this is bad news.
Why?
1. Loss of control
This business is currently run by a close-knit team. This is sure to change radically when the bottom line becomes short-term profitability, and when the long-term vision is dropped.
2. Technology Dilution
Technology moves quickly. But in order to keep shareholders happy, it will make sense not to compete head-to-head with the bigger guns such as RedHat.
In addition, partnerships will become more important. These days, partnerships are all about leveraging each other's monopolies. This is a naturally closed world.
So this isn't good stuff folks. SUre, it's great fun for the 17 people who'll be able to retire, but it isn't necessarily good for the industry or the users.
I have a (Score:1)
If it's for french people only and you have to click through that crap.. Why is it in english?
I always suspected they were French... (Score:1)
are they in the black yet? (Score:1)