He believes, for example, that the goal of exchange consolidation can be achieved partly by closer technology links. His last post was chairman of Switzerland’s SWX Group – pointing to a potential tie-up between Deutsche Börse and the Swiss Stock Exchange. Bolstering Mr Francioni’s credentials is his seven-year stint at Deutsche Börse, during which he rose to deputy CEO until he fell out with Mr Seifert in 1999.
Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, has not yet sated his appetite despite consuming PeopleSoft last year. With i-flex, TimesTen and Retek already acquired this year, Oracle has now agreed a price for Siebel Systems, previously noted as an alternative to PeopleSoft. If Mr Ellison is working down the hit list he presented to the board in 2003, BEA Systems, Business Objects or Sybase could be next.
| Rijkman Groenink, ABN AMRO chairman, finally has something to smile about, after the ABN-BPI-Antonveneta takeover triangle that was Europe’s banking drama of the summer. BPI’s board has given its approval for the sale of its 29.4% stake in Italian Antonveneta to the Dutch bank at €26.5 per share. BPI should not be too unhappy either – it will bring home about €2.2bn, representing a capital gain of €150m-€200m. |
