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Technology Stocks : Vantive Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clam Clam who wrote (1895)	4/20/1998 8:57:00 PM
From: Rick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3033

Thanks for responding. I think you're probably right about the press release being a tipoff that serious merger negotiations are probably less likely. I also think your comments about SAP and Baan's vocal interest in the front end are interesting, however, just because Peoplesoft has indicated that buying Vantive is not a priority, I cannot reach the conclusion that Peoplesoft is less interested in the front office space in general. I think its clear to most industry watchers that all of the players, including Peoplesoft, have long term strategic interests in filling all the major ERP functions. It would be unwise (and thus unlikely) for Peoplesoft to not have a strategy in place to fill this hole. I don't know when it might happen, but I think its a safe bet that the planning (build or buy) is and has been going on for some time - public statements and full-plates notwithstanding. Thanks, again for your thoughts. Rick. P.S. Speculating on the issues surrounding a possible acquisition by Peoplesoft, I say the following: 1) Assuming a good integrated product (does anyone have any comments about the supposed integration of "field service" and PSFT apps ?) is feasible, I would guess PSFT would be very interested in Vantive. 2) Peoplesoft stock is strong and it would be a decent time for a major acquisition. 3) How well can Vantive compete against Seibel/Scopus going forward ? If they can go it alone and continue to grow revenue and earnings, then maybe they are not interested in a merger right now. Perhaps they have enough current momentum to bring the price up without selling out.