“Software maker Inprise said it hired an investment bank to
review its proposed acquisition by Linux software maker Corel.”
“Inprise hired closely held Broadview to conduct a ‘fairness
evaluation’ of Corel’s proposed $1.03 billion purchase of Inprise,
a company spokeswoman confirmed.”
“Corel, the maker of WordPerfect software, said in February that
it had agreed to buy Inprise for $1.03 billion in stock. The
companies said the merger was designed to expand their ability to
develop and sell Linux, a computer operating system that competes
with Microsoft’s Windows software.”
“The value of the transaction has dropped as Corel’s share price
has slipped. Corel shares fell 22 percent on March 21 after the
company reported a larger-than-expected loss for its first quarter
and said results for the next two quarters would also be worse than
expected.”