Oracle's BEA bid turns unfriendly

Nancy Gohring

Oracle Corp.'s bid for BEA Systems Inc. appears to be getting ugly with the latest statement from Oracle.

On Friday afternoon Pacific Time in the U.S., Oracle released a letter addressed to BEA's board in which Oracle President Charles Phillips says he asked BEA Vice President Bill Klein early in the day if there was any process BEA would like to follow to move toward a friendly transaction. Klein responded that the company didn't have another process in mind, according to Phillips.

That exchange followed BEA's cancellation of a meeting set for Friday morning, Oracle said. The meeting was designed to work through an agreement that would be complete before the opening of business on Monday, Oracle said.

"We are available to proceed immediately with a process that would lead to a friendly transaction," Phillips wrote.

Oracle announced earlier in the day on Friday that it had offered US$17 per share in cash for BEA. In response, BEA said the offer was inadequate, characterizing it as unsolicited.

The situation is reminiscent of Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft, which resulted in a lengthy takeover battle.

If BEA did indeed have a change of heart about an offer from Oracle, it's probably for good reason, said Ray Wang, a Forrester analyst. "BEA probably thinks it has other options," he said. He's hearing speculation that BEA has another bid on the table or that it is considering other arrangements, such as taking itself private in order to stay independent, he said.