PalmSource spin-off slips again

Summer 2003 at the earliest

Palm will now not spin off its operating system subsidiary, PalmSource, until the summer, CEO Eric Benhamou has revealed.

Speaking at a teleconference held to discuss the group's Q3 results, Benhamou admitted "our schedule estimate for the final completion of the PalmSource separation has now moved out to the summer of this year".

Preparing for the separation of the group into two independent entities is taking longer than planned, he said, and "the amount of timed required proved to be longer than originally budgeted".

Discussing the progress of the separation, Benhamou added that the US Internal Revenue Service has said Palm won't have to pay any tax for spinning off PalmSource, and neither will Palm shareholders. Palm is now ready to complete the documents it must submit to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Incidentally, Palm expects separation costs to be approximately $3 million during the current quarter, said CFO Judy Bruner. They amounted to $1.7 million during Q3. ®

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