Up. InfoWorld rumor that BAY wants $80
infoworld.com
May 18, 1998
Gloomy weather and tedious card games
bring curious deals to light
I love California, the land of sunshine and warm beaches, but lately this state
is keeping everybody on their collective toes. May, usually the time I start to
shop for a new bathing suit and make an appointment at my favorite tanning
salon, has fooled us all with funnel clouds.
Instead of searching for barbecues last week, I spent my days dodging all
that Mother Nature saw fit to deliver to Silicon Valley, courtesy of her
petulant child El Nino.
On the plus side, as we all headed for the basement to play "Clue" and wait
out the stormy weather, it gave me the chance to catch up on some of the
wheeling and dealing going on in the Valley.
Down in the dark
Forced into the darkness and at a loss for space, it only makes sense that
some deals might develop.
Apparently, Intel and Netscape are hammering out some plans to create a
combined Web site to promote their products and sell them as well. But
when I cornered one of the Intel storm refugees to ask him how far any
collaboration might extend and if an acquisition was in the offing, all he could
do was laugh. Evidently the two companies don't get along all that well.
At least he forgot about the storm for a while.
Being forced into a basement might be the only thing that will bring about the
much ballyhooed deal between Bay Networks and either Lucent or Nortel. It
seems that both companies have made offers to acquire Bay, but so far both
have been rejected. Bay's head honchos apparently want a cool $80 per
share for the company, almost three times what the company's stock is
currently going for.
At least one Cringe tipster passed a note over with his cards during the game.
It said that Oracle will replace its sales and customer-service solution --
which was cooked up hurriedly for release this spring and has gotten a
lackluster response -- through a partnership with a major independent
sales-force automation company. Although he couldn't say which company
would partner with the Big O, he did rule out Siebel Systems.
True, Siebel is big in its field, and its headquarters are just a quick scramble
to Oracle's storm doors, but it was founded by former Oracle sales executive
Tom Siebel. Apparently there is still bad blood between him and Oracle
CEO Larry Ellison. Or, as he said as he snickered over his cards, "There's
only room for one egomaniac at that company."
Through wind and rain
And while most of the refugees were huddling around the hurricane lamp, at
least two Internet-commerce companies were a lot calmer as they planned to
make good on recent success. Rumor has it around the shelter that both
Intershop and Interworld are planning to go public with their companies in the
coming months. But in Intershop's case, they plan to do so in the German
market -- no doubt to avoid the bad weather and the various tax
requirements that will be imposed to pay for storm damage.
Now that the winds have died down, and before the next twister hits,
you can pass along tips to me at (650) 312-0555; fax: (650) 286-2775;
or send a message to cringe@infoworld.com.
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Copyright c 1998 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.
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