BEA Systems Inc. yesterday rejected Oracle Corp.’s $6.7 billion takeover offer.
On Oct. 9, Oracle delivered the $17-per-share offer to rival BEA as a result of several years’ worth of conversations. Oracle said it would “protect the investment” BEA customers have made.
“It’s not in Oracle's interest to get customers to defect,” said Laurent Lachal, senior analyst at research firm Ovum.
But BEA executives said the price tag undervalues the software maker; Oracle later said it’s open to meeting with BEA but that it wouldn’t change its offer.
BEA is bound to be acquired, Lachal said, and Oracle is the best-positioned company to do so. Oracle “has spent the past three years positioning itself aggressively against BEA on the basis of the integration between its database and application server, and an aggressive pricing strategy.”
BEA Systems Inc. www.beasys.com
Oracle Corp. www.oracle.com
