Quarterdeck nails new tool deals

Web tool vendor Quarterdeck has planted a stake in the collaborative computing market with the acquisition of both Datastorm Technologies and FutureLabs.

Datastorm makes Procomm Plus, a suite of data communications tools that includes fax software, a TCP-IP stack, a Web browser, telnet, FTP (file transfer protocol), and a news and mail reader. Quarterdeck will trade 5.2 million shares for the company in a deal valued at roughly $70.9 million.

FutureLabs is a Silicon Valley startup that makes a whiteboarding application called TalkShow, which allows users in different locations to work together on the same data at the same time. Quarterdeck's agreement in principle with FutureLabs offers about $10.2 million in shares for the company. The deal is expected to be completed in April.

Quarterdeck will outline its plans for integrating the products into its lineup next week at the NetWorld + Interop conference in Las Vegas. Quarterdeck already sells the WebTalk Net telephone software, WebCompass to let users schedule and automate Web searches on specific topics, and the WebStar Web server software.