Red Hat to acquire JBoss

Red Hat, a distributor of the Linux operating system and related products and services, has agreed to acquire JBoss, a firm that specializes in open-source middleware.

Through the acquisition, Red Hat plans to speed the shift to service-oriented architectures (SOAs) within organizations, according to a company announcement.

"It is at Red Hat's very core to help unlock the power of open source and open communities to innovate across industries, geographies and economies," said Matthew Szulik, chairman and chief executive officer of Red Hat, in a statement.

The combined company will be able to deliver an economical platform for advanced Web applications, built on Red Hat's operating system and JBoss' middleware, which will accelerate the adoption of SOAs, according to the announcement.

The transaction will be worth about $420 million when complete, including $350 million initially and $70 million that depends on meeting future goals. The value of the deal is about 40 percent cash and 60 percent Red Hat stock, according to the companies. The acquisition is expected to close next month.