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Hewlett-Packard's big ticket acquisition of software maker Autonomy, at a 64-per-cent premium to the company's trading price, has piqued the attention of investors in Open Text.

The Canadian company is "the last major best-of-breed" seller of business document management software, according to National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson.

Mr. Thomson points out that Open Text has long been the subject of takeover talk, but nothing has happened, however he expects the speculation to rise again.

It's showing up in Open Text stock, which had a big day Thursday when markets were down and is up again Friday.

Mr. Thompson has pegged the most likely buyer.

He figures IBM is the best bet as an acquiror.

Even if nobody buys Open Text, the multiples HP is paying for Autonomy argue for a higher valuation as Mr. Thompson points out they are "huge."

IBM would be interested in Open Text because it would then be positioned to serve both SAP and Oracle customers, he reckons. (Open Text and SAP are partners.)

"We do not expect Microsoft to make a bid. A bidding war between SAP and Oracle is another real possibility," he said in a report.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
MSFT-Q
Microsoft Corp
-0.17%420.72
OTEX-Q
Open Text Cp
+0.05%38.83
OTEX-T
Open Text Corp
-0.15%52.56

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