BEA Still Resisting $17-Per-Share Buyout Offer, Oracle Says

acquire middleware vendor BEA Systems,

During a teleconference Wednesday to discuss Oracle's second-quarter earnings, Oracle president and CFO Safra Catz said Oracle has communicated with BEA's bankers and lawyers over the past few weeks. "And as a result of those discussions, we've concluded that no friendly deal can be done with the current BEA board at a price and terms acceptable to Oracle," she said.

Catz did not say what Oracle's next step in the takeover bid, if any, would be. When a Wall Street analyst asked why BEA was refusing the offer, Catz said that question would have to be directed at the company's board.

For its second quarter, ended Nov. 30, Oracle reported a 28 percent year-over-year gain in revenue to $5.3 billion. Net income increased 35 percent to $1.3 billion.

Software revenue rose 29 percent from the same period last year to $4.2 billion, the company reported. That included a 38 percent increase in new software license sales, a key growth indicator, to $1.7 billion. Oracle said the new license sales growth was the highest of any quarter in 10 years, even exceeding the first quarter's 35 percent growth rate.

Database and middleware new license revenue gained 28 percent while new license revenue for applications surged 63 percent. Revenue from services was up 22 percent to $1.2 billion.

The applications sales growth is the payoff from Oracle's strategy of expanding into high-end, industry-specific software, CEO Larry Ellison said during the teleconference. "You'll see us go into more and more [vertical] industries," he said. "That's our strategy for growth." He said Oracle's approach is in contrast with rival SAP, which Ellison said is trying to sell more ERP software to smaller businesses.

For the current quarter Oracle expects revenue growth in the range of 21 percent to 24 percent and new license growth in the range of 15 percent to 25 percent.