M & A PLAY
Viraj Parikh, principal at Topaz Capital, a hedge fund that specializes in technology, is also considering some smaller capitalization technology plays. "I think with big-cap tech, there are a lot of big numbers going on here, and it's hard to get the same juice you got for years in Microsoft, Cisco, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL)."
Mr. Parikh says that smaller technology companies may continue to benefit from the boom in mergers and acquisitions. "You've got to buy instead of build," says Mr. Parikh. "It's about speed to market. There is plenty of innovative technology out there, and small-caps are fast to market. If you're a big-cap, you've got to justify these valuations and acquire some revenues."
One small-cap idea that Mr. Parikh is following is Excelon (Nasdaq: EXLN), a provider of object-oriented database and XML tools formerly known as Object Design. Just a year ago, Object Design was a struggling company trying to pitch the somewhat arcane benefits of object-oriented databases. By focusing on emerging technologies such as XML, rebranding its marketing image, and giving the company a new name, the company was able to refocus its technology prowess on a hot Internet growth area.
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