Oracle Buying Novell or Lotus ??

I've heard some interesting snippets from my Oracle spies, and saw a few paragraphs in the trade magazines on this, so I thought I would post it here.

Oracle's board recently authorized the issuance of a number of additional shares of stock. One potential use for these is to fund the purchase of another firm. I've heard rumors of both Novell and Lotus as possible candidates.

Anyone care to comment on why it would be good for Oracle (and for the potential combined corporation) to purchase one of these two firms ? What synergies or competitive advantages would be found in these combinations ? Has anyone else heard these rumors ?

I also wonder if this is still in the works with Oracle stock down about 15% (from 45 to 39) in the last couple weeks.

All comments are welcome,

• Dan

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