[OT] Mang, you probably know, but just in case:
Netscape Rises on Speculation Sun Microsystems Will Buy It
Mountain View, California, April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Netscape
Communications Corp. shares rose as much as 34 percent on
speculation that Sun Microsystems Inc. will buy the struggling
Internet-software company.
The money-losing maker of the popular Navigator Internet
browser rose 5 3/4 to 25 1/2 in late trading of 28.2 million,
making it the third most-active stock in U.S. trading. Earlier,
the shares touched 26 3/8.
Netscape has been trying to shore up its eroding share of
the browser market against rival Microsoft Corp. while building
its corporate software and Web site businesses. Sun may be
interested in Netscape to help it reach a wide audience of
Internet users and to round out its product line, which is mostly
hardware.
''(Sun CEO Scott) McNealy's a conservative value player, and
Netscape offers franchise value into the homes and businesses
around the world,'' said Paul Foster, a trader at 1010 Wall
Street, a Chicago options-strategy firm.
In February, reports that Mountain View, California-based
Netscape was in talks with International Business Machines Corp.,
Sun Microsystems, Oracle Corp. and America Online Inc. drove the
shares up, although no agreement was expected soon.
''We're not going to comment on rumors and speculation,''
said Netscape spokeswoman Allison Johnson. A Sun spokeswoman also
declined to comment.
Sun Microsystems, based in Palo Alto, California, fell 1 5/8
to 40 9/16 in late trading.
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