Icahn: BEA Will Sell, or I Will Oust the Board

Firm now faces internal and external pressure to lower its price
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 30, 2007 12:05 AM CDT
Icahn: BEA Will Sell, or I Will Oust the Board
An exterior view of Bea Systems headquarters in San Jose, Calif. is seen Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. Business software maker BEA Systems Inc. plans to let rival Oracle Corp.'s $6.7 billion takeover offer expire this Sunday, a move likely to intensify the pressure on management to prove the company is worth...   (Associated Press)

Having held out on a time-sensitive $6.7 billion offer from Oracle, BEA Systems management now faces a charge to oust them by billionaire shareholder Carl Icahn, who wields a massive 13.2% stake in the company, the AP reports. BEA says it will not entertain any offer that values it at less than $21 per share -- Oracle offered $17 per share — but to appease Icahn it hinted at other possible buyers.

BEA makes "middleware," which links software to databases. Icahn's proposed coup is his latest attempt to get BEA to sell for less, and it seems Oracle has his back: "If the BEA shareholders are unhappy with the behavior of the BEA board it is up to those shareholders, not Oracle, to take the appropriate action," read a company statement. (More BEA Systems stories.)

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