Icahn calls for a sale of BEA Systems: SEC filing
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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said on Friday a sale of BEA Systems Inc.  to a strategic acquirer would maximize the value of its shares and that he might seek to nominate directors to the software maker's board.
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Oracle has agreed to buy BEA Systems for about $8.5 billion, the companies announced Wednesday.The deal comes just three months after&#160;the middleware vendor turned down an earlier offer of $6.7 billion.Oracle hopes that acquiring middleware vendor BEA will&#160;allow it to improve its own middleware suite, Fusion.That middleware is key to helping customers migrate their systems to a services-oriented architecture (SOA), CEO Larry Ellison said in a conference call last month to discuss the company&#39;s earnings.With Fusion already able to link to BEA&#39;s WebLogic Java application server, the deal is likely to speed Oracle&#39;s adoption of Java-based middleware, the company said.Oracle&#39;s customers have been telling it for years to buy BEA, it said.However the members of BEA&#39;s board were less sold on the idea: They&#160;turned down an offer from Oracle of $17 per BEA share in October, saying it &quot;significantly undervalues BEA.&quot; Oracle in turn&#160;dismissed the BEA board&#39;s counter-offer of $21 per share as &quot;impossibly high&quot;.But on Wednesday the companies split the difference, and BEA&#39;s board announced it had unanimously approved Oracle&#39;s latest offer of $19.375 in cash per BEA share.The board accepted only after spending several months looking for other ways to maximize shareholder value, BEA&#39;s chairman and CEO Alfred Chuang said in a statement.The companies expect to close the deal by mid-year, subject to the approval of regulators and BEA shareholders.&#160;
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The board of BEA Systems Inc  said on Monday that it is still looking at ways to maximize shareholder value, including the possible sale of the company, after a bid from Oracle Corp  expired on Sunday.
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Financier Carl Icahn on Monday said King Pharmaceutical Inc.&#39;s (KG) possible need to restate earnings reinforces his belief that an acquisition of King by Mylan Laboratories Inc.
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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said on Tuesday that he would launch a tender offer for home builder WCI Communities Inc. , in which he already has about a 14.6 percent stake, at $22 per share.
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Investor Carl Icahn issued a $20-per-share bid to acquire Mylan Laboratories Inc. on Friday and said &quot;at least&quot; three other potential buyers in the generic drug industry could offer more.
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BEA Systems Inc  said on Thursday it is prepared to sell itself for $8.2 billion, which is a 24 percent premium to a bid from Oracle Corp  that the business software maker rejected.
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Carl C. Icahn thinks BEA Systems should sell itself for $17 a share. Except when he doesnât. Right now, at least, the corporate rabble-rouser is furious that BEA refused to accept Oracleâs takeover offer, one that expired Sunday night. Mr. Icahn on Friday even took the next step of filing a lawsuit in Delaware court to [...].
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BOSTON/WASHINGTON  - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in BEA Systems Inc  to 8.5 percent and on Friday urged the company's board to put the business software maker up for sale.
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(InfoWorld) - Talk about raining on a parade. BEA Systems concluded its cheery BEAWorld San Francisco conference last Wednesday. Highlights of the seemingly triumphant event included presentations from executives like Chairman, CEO and President Alfred Chuang and product introductions like its new application server, WebLogic Server 10.3, and a dynamic application development platform called Project Genesis. Then, two days later, well-known corporate activist and billionaire Carl Icahn, a BEA investor, expressed intentions to seek the sale of BEA, believing the company would have a hard time staying afloat as a standalone company in its industry. Icahn may seek to seat a board of directors more favorable to his plea. But not so fast, a BEA insider said. While the company itself has continued to decline comment on the Icahn matter, this insider familiar with BEA's investor-related workings did not give out much hope for Icahn to get a more compliant board elected. Icahn has an 8.5 percent stake in the company, which would represent about 33.5 million shares, said the source, who asked to not be identified. "But if you look closely at the filing, you'll see about 16.2 million of those are options, not actual holdings," the source said. "He only owns about 4 percent," said the source. "What this means is that if he was gong to exercise those options, he'd have to plunk down another several hundred million in cash right now," the source said. Further complicating any efforts to force a sale is that BEA is one of several companies that has had to restate past financial statements due to backdating of stock options. With that issue still ongoing, the company cannot even hold an annual meeting where Icahn could attempt to elect a favorable board, according to the source. An annual meeting is expected to be held this fall, but even then, BEA only re-elects three or four members of its 10-member board every year, the source said. Thus Icahn could not get control of the board in a single year. Just publicly announcing plans to try to seek a sale of a company can drive up a stock price, the source said. BEA's stock went up 4 percent Friday, the source said. Still, Icahn's setting sights on a software company like BEA, which has only intellectual property assets, "might be a sign of things to come for the tech world," said the source.Â  Icahn has been involved in similar efforts with such companies as Motorola and Lear. Icahn could not be immediately reached on Monday afternoon. BEA has been the target of takeover rumors before. One particular company that has stood out as a potential suitor has been Oracle. But BEA has continued to chug along independently although its license revenues in the most recent quarter shrunk 9 percent, to $123.1 million, over the same time period a year ago. BEA also has plans to move into a new headquarters in downtown San Jose, Calif. next year, even getting a city subsidy to encourage the move. Whether that office building would bear the name of BEA, a prospective new parent company, or possibly remain empty remains to be seen.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn was given clearance by US antitrust regulators to purchase shares in Biogen Idec Inc., the world's biggest maker of drugs for multiple sclerosis.
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BEA shareholder Carl Icahn threatens a suit to force a shareholder vote on Oracle's offer, expiring today.
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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29 -- After shooing away Oracle's $6.7 billion takeover bid, BEA Systems dug in its heels for a potentially disruptive battle with its largest shareholder, activist investor Carl C. Icahn.
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Software maker BEA Systems Inc's  board said on Monday it is holding out for a $21-a-share takeover offer, a day after its larger rival Oracle Corp  withdrew its $17-a-share offer.
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The investor Carl C. Icahn said he was trying to get three supporters elected to the board of the biotechnology firm Biogen Idec because of concerns over the sales process.
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Veteran financier Carl Icahn said he and a group of investors are willing to buy Mylan Laboratories Inc. for $20 per share, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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IntercontinentalExchange Inc.  on Thursday urged CBOT Holdings Inc.  shareholders and members to reject the proposed sale of the company to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.