Welcome!

Open Source Authors: Jeremy Geelan, Bruce Johnston, Colin Walker, Reuven Cohen, Timothy Fisher

Related Topics: Oracle, Java

Oracle: Article

ORACLE BEA - Carl Icahn Threatens Proxy Battle For Control of BEA

Icahn is BEA's biggest shareholder with approx 15% of its stock
By Oracle News Desk
Article Rating:
November 17, 2007 12:15 PM EST
Reads:
 18,572
(October 27, 2007) - Billionaire Carl Icahn, BEA's biggest shareholder with approx 15% of its stock, has told a reporter that it is "insane" for the company to reject out of hand Oracle's unsolicited bid. "I'm not saying I accept $17," Icahn told Reuters. "It's going to be a three-month process." BEA is insisting that it's worth $21 per share.

Icahn has written a letter to the BEA board, disclosed in an SEC filing, demanding that it let shareholders vote on what the best bid for BEA might be.

The choices, he believes, ought necessarily to  include the existing $6.7BN offer from Larry Ellison's Oracle Corp.

In his letter Icahn states:
"If a topping bid arises, then all the better ... But if no topping bid arises it should be up to the BEA shareholders to decide whether to take the Oracle bid or remain as an independent company."
He added, scornfully:
"In particular I view your public declaration of a $21 per share 'take it or leave it' price as a management entrenchment tactic, not a negotiating technique."
In other words he believes the BEA board is actively obstructing any acquisition by Oracle, irrespective of shareholders' wishes. He would be willing, he has let it be known, to start a proxy battle for control of the company.

Carl Icahn's net worth is $14.5BN as of 2007, making him the 18th richest man in America. Larry Ellison still beats him, according to Forbes, at $21.5BN.

Published November 17, 2007 – Reads 18,572
Copyright © 2007 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.

More Stories By Oracle News Desk

Oracle News Desk trawls the world's news information sources and brings you timely updates on Oracle and its ever-expanding enterprise software portfolio, including its entire range of tools for managing business data, supporting business operations, and facilitating collaboration and application development.

Comments (0)

Share your thoughts on this story.

Add your comment
You must be signed in to add a comment. Sign-in | Register

In accordance with our Comment Policy, we encourage comments that are on topic, relevant and to-the-point. We will remove comments that include profanity, personal attacks, racial slurs, threats of violence, or other inappropriate material that violates our Terms and Conditions, and will block users who make repeated violations. We ask all readers to expect diversity of opinion and to treat one another with dignity and respect.