Canopy Group

The Canopy Group is an investment firm founded by Ray Noorda, headquartered in Lindon, Utah. It served as the parent company of various technology companies until 2012, when its technology venture arm was purchased by Signal Peak Ventures. One of its most well-known members was the SCO Group. Canopy divested itself of SCO in 2005 with the settlement of the Yarro case. Today, Canopy provides real estate and rental space to high tech companies.

On December 17, 2004, Noorda and other shareholders ousted CEO Ralph Yarro III, CFO Darcy Mott, and corporate counsel Brent Christensen, accusing them of having defrauded the company of many millions of dollars. Yarro and the other executives sued for wrongful termination and Canopy countersued the three men. On March 8, 2005, the day before initial hearings were scheduled to begin, both parties negotiated a settlement out of court, ending the litigation. In a joint press release by the parties, Canopy agreed to relinquish ownership of all its shares in the SCO Group, transferring them to Yarro along with an undisclosed sum of money. In exchange, Canopy would regain all its shares controlled by SCO, thereby severing ties between the two companies.

Following Yarro's removal from the Canopy Group, Canopy subsequently appointed John Noorda and Andy Noorda, Ray Noorda's sons, to the Canopy Board of Directors. Following those appointments, John and Andy Noorda assumed control of the Canopy Group and they subsequently hired Ron Heinz of Canopy portfolio company Helius, a provider of satellite Internet technology, as managing director. Prior to his stint at Helius, Heinz was formerly the head of North American Sales for Novell, Inc. and was responsible for building several of the Canopy Group's profitable ventures.

Following these changes, The Canopy Group has revitalized its portfolio and is again actively investing in Utah high technology companies and development.

The Canopy Group also at one point owned a 5.7% stake in Trolltech, the company which developed Qt. After a round of investments, they withdrew those investments. Canopy also divested itself of interests in Altiris in 2005.

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