Wall Data Sells DataChannel Stake for $4.6m.

Connectivity software provider Wall Data Inc said Friday that it has sold its 10% stake in in DataChannel, the Seattle-based XML software company. In connection with the sale, Kirkland, Washington-based Wall Data will receive $4.6m in cash and recognize a $2.9m non-operating gain in the second fiscal quarter ending October 31. Wall Data says the move is consistent with its recently-announced decision to abandon the corporate information portal market as it continues to focus on PC and web-to-host access solutions. The company adds that it will continue to be a licensee of DataChannel's technology.

Wall Data warned earlier last week that it will post a loss for the first quarter - its second negative pre-announcement in as many quarters - and said that founder and chief executive John Wall had resigned. The company is set to consolidate the technologies of its Cyberprise product line into the Rumba product line, essentially backtracking on an earlier move that set the two up as separate businesses. The gain from the DataChannel sale will help to offset an expected second-quarter charge related to the restructuring that is currently estimated to be between $13 and $14.