Inprise/Borland deal with Corel hits a rocky patch

Doubts continued to surround the merger between software vendor Corel and tools specialist Inprise/Borland last week, as Inprise/Borland called in its financial advisors to reassess the value of the deal.

Doubts continued to surround the merger between software vendor Corel and tools specialist Inprise/Borland last week, as Inprise/Borland called in its financial advisors to reassess the value of the deal.

Originally put forward two months ago, the deal was estimated to be worth $2.44bn (£1.6bn). Under the terms, Inprise/Borland would operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corel with Michael Cowpland remaining as president and Dale Fuller, Inprise/Borland's interim chief executive, as chairman of Corel's board of directors.

However, Corel has continued to suffer from financial difficulties including a first-quarter loss of $12.4m. As a result, the Inprise/Borland deal has lost value and is now worth $374m.

The sudden drop in value of Corel's shares and the move by an Inprise/Borland shareholder to challenge the merger in the US courts, has led the company to again seek the views of its financial specialist, adviser Broadview International.

In a statement, Inprise/ Borland said Broadview has been called in to "update its opinion as to the fairness (of the deal) to Inprise/Borland stockholders from a financial point of view." This will consider Corel's first-quarter results, its cash position and the company's short-term financial prospects.

A Corel representative said when Inprise/Borland issued the statement Corel "wondered what it would mean for them". She added that the "ball was firmly in the court of Inprise/Borland and its shareholders".

However, she claimed that the companies were continuing to operate under the initial terms of the agreement and that the executive teams were working towards gaining shareholder agreement for the deal by the summer.