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May 26 2000 2:31PM ET More on IDEAglobal...
Baan Investors Hope End Is Near
From IDEAglobal
Special to CNBC.com

Investors are hoping Dutch business-software maker Baan Co. N.V. {BAANF} is nearing the end of its woes, which includes seven consecutive quarters of losses.

Shares of Baan leapt to 3 3/4 intraday Thursday, after hitting a 52-week low of 1 1/8 back on Tuesday. The share are down again on Friday.


One-year chart for BAANF

IDEAglobal.com believes the shares will bounce on rumor speculation, possibly even doubling on continued takeover talks.

Recent speculation has included Invensys plc {IVNSY} and Oracle Corp. {ORCL} as potential suitors. It seems a takeover would be the most likely scenario since the company has continued to lose ground against Oracle, PeopleSoft Inc. {PSFT} and SAP Aktiengesellschaft {SAP}.

Baan is currently being advised by Lazard Freres to help it raise cash and evaluate strategic alternatives. Earlier this year, Baan secured financing from U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns in exchange for discounted shares which averted insolvency. However, Bear Stearns can choose to cancel the agreement if Baan shares are below $2.70, a level at which the shares have failed to maintain. Yet Bear Stearns for the time being chosen to waive that requirement and continue to address future financing for Baan on a case-by-case basis going forward as needed.

Baan posted a first-quarter loss of $26 million, as sales continued to slump. License revenue for Baan fell to $27 million in the first quarter vs. $65 million a year earlier and total revenue fell to $106 million vs. $176 million. Baan also lost two key executives during the quarter, which has only compounded its problems.

In a recent move to reposition the company, Baan plans to form a new subsidiary aimed at providing customer relationship management (CRM) software to dot-com start-ups and Internet companies. Expected to open in June, the new unit will focus on selling companies its CRM software and services. Those products include Web-enabled applications that automate a company`s sales, marketing and customer call-center needs, as well as procurement software and sales-configuration software.

Baan’s main business is the manufacture of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that lets companies monitor and manage operations by compiling and integrating information across global corporate resources. The software, plus a growing collection of other business applications, combines distribution, finance, customer service, manufacturing and other functions.

Back in December, the company announced that it expected to return to profitability in 2000. The company had previously noted that the fourth-quarter pipeline was expected to have improved measurably over previous quarters and that this trend would continue into 2000 leading to profitability. Obviously this expectation never came to fruition and, as a result, investors are somewhat leery of any prediction Baan might offer up.

IDEAglobal.com thinks the company’s only hope is the surfacing of a white knight, which should emerge prior to the company having to declare bankruptcy.

Because it is a takeover play, the stock looks likely to bounce to 4 3/4 within the next few weeks.

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hallo,

schöner text

gibts den auch in deutsch ?