RED HAT TO CONTEST SECURITIES LAWSUITS

Red Hat, Inc. (NASDAQ:RHAT) today announced that it intends to vigorously contest certain securities lawsuits recently filed against it in New York. The complaints allege that Red Hat and its underwriters, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated, failed to disclose certain purported activities allegedly engaged in by the underwriters in the distribution of Red Hat's initial public offering in August 1999. The complaints maintain that Red Hat's alleged failure to disclose the underwriters'?activities in Red Hat's Prospectus violated federal securities laws.

"The entire premise of these claims against Red Hat and its directors is preposterous," stated Mark Webbink, Red Hat's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "We retained the finest investment banks in the world to handle the underwriting of our offering. The assertion of plaintiff's lawyers that Red Hat had the obligation and ability to monitor the manner in which these well-respected firms sold Red Hat's securities is patently ridiculous. We do not believe that anyone associated with Red Hat acted improperly in any way." Mr. Webbink stated that the company would defend itself to the full limit of the law and seek any available redress against these baseless claims.

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