Proxim Reunites Farallon and Netopia

The convoluted corporate history of what started out life as Farallon Communications continues to loop back on itself. In 1997, Farallon changed its name to Netopia and began to focus less on the Macintosh and more on the Internet. Then in 1998, Farallon spun out of Netopia to concentrate on Macintosh networking hardware, leaving the popular remote control software Timbuktu Pro behind. In June of 2000, the wireless networking company Proxim purchased Farallon. Now Proxim has announced that it is acquiring Netopia, bringing Farallon’s other half back into the fold. Each share of Netopia stock will be converted to 0.3 shares of Proxim common stock, which works out to a purchase price of about $223 million, well above the $14 million in stock and cash Proxim paid for Farallon last year. Along with Timbuktu Pro, the acquisition provides Proxim with DSL and other broadband technologies, plus access to Netopia’s distribution network.