Corel Corp. announced Monday it will unveil a new corporate strategy on Tuesday at an employee and media event in Ottawa, Canada where sources report the company will sell off large chunks of its business, including WordPerfect.
“Senior executives at Corel are in the final stages of reviewing the company’s corporate strategy which is designed to better position the company for long-term growth and profitability,” a company statement said. “Corel has been assisted in these efforts by a third-party management consulting firm.”
The Canadian software maker may sell its word processing product, WordPerfect, the National Post reported Sunday, citing unidentified sources. A Corel spokeswoman had no comment on the report. The company also has refused to confirm or deny reports that Corel’s Linux business will be sold to a U.S. company for US$5 million.
WordPerfect accounted for about 49 per cent of the company’s revenues in the most recent quarter. Last August, then-interim chief executive Derek Burney said he planned to capitalize on the strength of the company’s CorelDraw graphics software and WordPerfect office package to return the company to profitability.
The company officially dropped Mac WordPerfect last May.
Corel has undergone a major reorganization over the past year with a $135 million financial shot in the arm from software giant Microsoft Corp. last October. The investment and Microsoft’s endorsement came at just the right time for Corel, which was running short of operating cash after reporting a $46.7 million loss for the nine months ended August 31.
At the same time, Corel reiterated its commitment to the Macintosh platform, saying it would continue developing new Mac-ready products. “Corel is very committed to our Mac products,” said Ian LeGrow, Corel’s vice president of development, marketing and creative products.
Corel exhibited its line of Mac products at Macworld Expo in San Francisco earlier this month.