From the 'Hurry Up and Wait' files:

Novell shareholders are going to have wait just a bit longer until they can cash in and be acquired by Attachmate for $2.2 billion.

Though Novell shareholders have already approved the sale, the deal is contingent on Novell selling off 882 patents to CPTN Holdings - a group which includes Microsoft, Apple and Oracle.

The CPTN patent sale is in the process of being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice and according to a new regulatory filing from Novell - the process is going to take more time than first expected. The DOJ has issued a second request for information from Novell which Novell is complying with.



"On March 4, 2011, each of the Company and CPTN certified as to its substantial compliance with its second request," Novell's 8K filing states. "In addition, at the request of the DOJ, the Company and CPTN have agreed to provide the DOJ with additional time to review the patent sale and not to close the patent sale prior to April 12, 2011. The Company remains committed to working with the DOJ as it conducts its review of the patent sale."

What does that mean?