Icahn buzzes closer and closer to BEA's hive
Carl Icahn is hungry.
The billionaire investor has grabbed a larger chunk of BEA Systems, upping his ownership stake to 11.05 percent, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That move aims to bring more pressure on BEA's board, which Icahn has called upon to sell the business software company.
His beef?
A view that BEA's shares are undervalued and an acquirer, in a consolidating market, could bring greater heft to the company's "innovative technology" and transform the financial performance of these assets.
Icahn, who late last month increased his stake to 9.88 percent from 8.5 percent, may be poised to launch a battle for BEA's board. As of June 30, according to Reuters, Icahn had just a 2 percent stake in BEA.
Icahn is no stranger to proxy fights. Just ask Ed Zander over at Motorola. The Motorola CEO actually managed to ward off such an attempt.
What would happen at BEA is anyone's guess.
Dawn Kawamoto covers enterprise security and financial news relating to technology for CNET News. E-mail Dawn.
BEA is getting squeezed by IBM on the top and JBOSS on the bottom.
So if the company is sold, it will be at a fire sale.