Late Reuters news follows yesterday's CORL move:
Renewed takeover rumors fuel major gains for Corel
Tuesday, July 6, 1999 05:16 PM Mail this article to a friend
OTTAWA, July 6 (Reuters) - Software developer Corel Corp. (Nasdaq:COR.TO>ADBE) picked up
steam.
The stock gained 75 Canadian cents, 11.5 percent, to close at C$7.25 on the Toronto Stock
Exchange in heavy trade of more than 1.7 million shares. On the U.S. Nasdaq, the issue moved up
41 cents to $4.97 with more than 5.5 million shares trading hands.
Adobe, like Corel, sells graphics software although its products are aimed primarily at the
professional designer market, rather than the retail market that CorelDRAW is geared toward.
Acquisition rumors first surfaced in February as Corel's board of directors approved a poison pill
plan to discourage takeovers. The acquisition was flatly denied at the time by both firms.
"I have not put a great deal of credence into it," said Jay Vleeschhouwer, analyst at Merrill Lynch
in New York who follows Adobe. "I'm not exactly sure what it would really get Adobe."
Adobe, based in San Jose, Ca., has said it is considering acquisitions but is interested in smaller
companies, he added. The company does not comment on rumors, said spokeswoman Linda White.
Corel shares may also be buoyed by initial public offering plans by Red Hat Software Inc., which
supports a free operating system called Linux.
"If anybody's going to benefit from this Linux thing happening on the PC...then Corel is the number
one company to benefit because they have the products ready for Linux," said one Bay Street
watcher, who asked not to be named.
Corel did not release any news on Tuesday and said no discussions were underway with Adobe.
"Nothing out of the ordinary is going on," said spokeswoman Nicole Sanford. "We've always felt
the stock's been undervalued and we've just had the best quarter since 1995 ... people are probably
picking up on that."
|
