International Arbitral Tribunal Validates Open Text Position

All NetSys Claims Dismissed, Complete Damages Awarded To Open Text Corporation

Waterloo, ON - 2000-04-03 - The International Arbitral Tribunal conducting binding arbitration in a dispute between NetSys Technology Group AB, a distributor of software products based in Sweden, and Open Text Corporation (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSE: OTC) has released its findings, overwhelmingly in favor of the position of Open Text management.

A summary of the Arbitral Tribunal s final findings include:

  1. The distribution and licence agreement entered into January 17, 1997 is declared to be at an end, for material and continuing breaches by NetSys of its terms, including selling outside its territory. The Tribunal went on to find that, even if the agreement had not been ended, NetSys had failed to pay royalties in 1999 and its exclusivity expired after December 31, 1999;
  2. The Tribunal ordered NetSys to account for all profits it made for sales outside its territory, which has the effect of ultimately requiring NetSys to pay these amounts to Open Text once they are determined;
  3. The PolarSearch (OTI) Agreement was performed by Open Text according to its terms;
  4. Open Text is awarded US$130,000.00 for unpaid hosting fees under the PolarSearch agreement;
  5. As no evidence was advanced in support of NetSys claims against Open Text, the counterclaim (CND$170,000,000) is dismissed without costs;
  6. Open Text is entitled to recover its full costs of this arbitration including expert s fees, arbitrator s fees and lawyer s fees.


Tom Jenkins, CEO of Open Text commented on the Tribunal s ruling, Management was confident that an independent assessment would recognize the fairness of the Open Text position. This binding ruling is a sweeping endorsement of the Company s position on all matters considered in this action.

Any prior distribution privilege NetSys may have held has been extinguished. Open Text will take immediate steps to provide ongoing support to Scandinavian customers of the Company s products. For further information, please contact the office in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands at 31-23-565-2333 or info@opentext.nl.

About Open Text

Open Text has pioneered the development of innovative intranet, extranet and e-business applications. Since creating one of the first search engines to index the World Wide Web, the Company has remained at the forefront of Internet-based technologies. Today, Open Text solutions allow individuals, teams, organizations, and global trading communities to collaborate on projects, share ideas and accelerate innovation to the fastest possible speed. We call it HyperInnovation and it is already a major factor in the success of leading Global 2000 organizations. Open Text has become the largest supplier of collaborative, Web-based e-business applications for the enterprise, with over 3.5 million users in 31 countries, speaking 12 languages throughout the world. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

Release Disclaimer

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the deployment of Livelink, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks involved in the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment Open Text s customers and other risks detailed from time to time in Open Text s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the final prospectus for Open Text s initial public offering of common stock in January 1996, Form 10-K for the years ended June 30, 1997, June 30, 1998, and June 30, 1999, and Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 1999 and December 31, 1999. Forward-looking statements are based on management s beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and Open Text does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management s beliefs or opinions change.

For more information, please contact

Scandinavian Customers:

Jean-Jacques Vossen
Senior Vice President, Sales, Europe
Open Text Corporation
31-23-565-2333
jjvossen@opentext.com

Margaret E. Dobbin
Director, Industry Analyst Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-519-888-7111 ext.2410
mdobbin@opentext.com