Content Management Matters ™

Not all M&A's are reason to celebrate. Sometimes they happen guns a-blazing. We get the feeling Oracle's attempt to acquire BEA Systems will be just that kind of socially awkward cold war-type thing.

Last Wednesday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced that a future takeover bid for BEA Systems will be less than the US$ 7 billion it was willing to pay last month. He pointed to the stock price and coolly added, "Clearly the $17 price seems too high now."

US$ 17 per share was the valuation of Oracle's initial takeover bid. But Ellison's comment is also an acknowledgment of the downturn in value for a number of tech stocks, which hit Oracle hard, according to the Financial Times. BEA's shares have enjoyed a safe plateau as its shareholders anticipate a fresh bid from Oracle.

Last month Oracle's offer to buy BEA was rejected because it "undervalued the company." But Ellison remains grimly optimistic, adding at its recent SF-based annual financial analyst meeting, "It looks like no one [else] is going to buy BEA. We were the only buyer then."

Fast on the news that Oracle plans to acquire BEA Systems for a reported US$ 6.7 billion -- and on BEA's rapid refusal for so paltry a sum -- CEO Michael Moppert of Day released the following statement:

"BEA, as a leader in middleware, makes it the perfect target by a company of Oracle's pedigree. When combined, these two entities will provide customers with a complete stack, from applications all the way down to the lower levels of technology infrastructure.

"This acquisition will solidify and add relevance to Day Software's OEM relationships with both Oracle and BEA."

Day has plenty of reason to feel personally involved in the M&A drama. The company is the enterprise source for JSR 170 and JSR 283, the current and pending standards for content repositories, respectively. Oracle and BEA share leadership roles on the executive committee for the standard.

Day and BEA also have a bit of history in the enterprise content repository field.