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Technology Stocks : Son of SAN - Storage Networking Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J Fieb who wrote (2468)	11/25/2000 9:53:54 AM
From: J Fieb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4808

WIll Bloom change VRTS..... Bloom Could Steer Veritas Toward Acquisitions (11/20/00, 6:10 p.m. ET) By Ken Schachter, TechWeb Finance Veritas Software Corp.'s newly minted president and CEO is likely to keep a low profile as he settles into his role. But Gary Bloom could eventually put the company on the acquisition trail, analysts said Monday. "Bloom will be careful to understand where Veritas is going and what it's doing before instituting his own ideas," said Sarah Mattson, an analyst at Dain Rauscher Wessels. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Bloom look at acquisitions and relations with different companies." The selection of Bloom, formerly executive vice president of Oracle Corp., was announced after the market close Friday. For much of Monday, shares of Veritas (stock: VRTS), the leading maker of storage software, were higher in Nasdaq trading, but by the close, were down 2 7/8 to 107 1/4. Oracle (stock: ORCL) tumbled 14.10 percent to 24 3/4. Bloom's surprise exit comes on the heels of a departure by Oracle's chief operating officer, Raymond Lane. Both men had been considered heir apparent to CEO Larry Ellison, who has given no indication of giving up the reins. "If you're a talented manager and you want the CEO role, that's probably not the place you want to work," Mattson said. An analysis by AMR Research analysts Randy Weston and Kevin O'Marah said Bloom's exit "leaves a gaping hole in Oracle's lineup," with no executive to provide counterweight to Ellison's "bigger-than-life personality and style." "It's clear that Larry Ellison is not ready to step aside anytime soon," said Jim Mendelson, an analyst at Wit SoundView. Further, both Mendelson and Mattson described Veritas, Mountain View, Calif., as well positioned for rapid growth. "It's a positive reflection for Veritas and speaks of its potential to become a multibillion-dollar company like Oracle," Mattson said. Bloom replaces Mark Leslie, who had been CEO since 1990. Leslie will continue as chairman. "It was a given that Mark Leslie was going to retire," said Mattson. "But this is a best-case scenario. You're bringing over someone with wonderful relationships with Oracle and a host of other software companies." Mendelson said Bloom's experience in developing alliances for Oracle, Redwood Shores, Calif., will hold him in good stead at Veritas. Mendelson noted that Veritas has deals with major vendors, including Microsoft Corp. (stock: MSFT), IBM Corp. (stock: IBM), EMC Corp. (stock: EMC), Sun Microsystems Inc. (stock: SUNW), and Hewlett-Packard Co. (stock: HWP), as well as Oracle. "Gary's background at Oracle was dealing with lots of partners," Mendelson said. While the focus was on Bloom's ascension, Lehman Brothers issued a bullish research note. The firm raised its price target on Veritas from 150 to 160 as the company completes a complex stock swap with disk-drive maker Seagate Technology Inc. (stock: SEG). Seagate is being taken private by an investor group. The stock-swap deal is expected to close this week.