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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- SCO Group, the Utah-based company that claims some of its proprietary Unix code is in the open-source, freely distributed Linux operating system, has announced a stock buyback program.
The company's stock has been trading at less than half the price it peaked at five months ago.
The Lindon-based firm's board of directors authorized management to buy up to 1.5 million shares over the next 24 months, the company announced Wednesday. SCO has approximately 14.4 million shares of common stock outstanding.
"This action reflects our strong belief in the fundamental value of our intellectual property and core business," said Ralph Yarro, SCO's chairman. "At current prices, we believe our stock represents an attractive investment opportunity. .... This action reflects our ongoing commitment to improving long-term stockholder value."
The stock dropped Wednesday to $9.51 on the Nasdaq exchange and fell another 26 cents Thursday, closing at $9.25.
That was the lowest price since SCO sold for $9.05 on June 12. The stock peaked Oct. 15 at $20.50 per share.
SCO is embroiled in lawsuits against IBM, which it claims allowed Unix code to enter Linux, and Novell, a prior owner of Unix which maintains that it still has copyrights for Unix.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
