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The news never rests, and nowhere is it busier than on the Internet bulletin boards. This column excerpts the choicest messages on the latest deals. Postings are selected from several sources, including Yahoo!, Raging Bull, Motley Fool and Silicon Investor.
Disclaimer: Board postings are entirely the product of their authors, and The Deal assumes no responsibility for the veracity or accuracy of their content.
Rebuffs and resolutions attracted the greatest interest on the Internet bulletin boards March 6. Western Multiplex Corp. (WMUX), a Sunnyvale, Calif., wireless equipment company, rejected an unsolicited bid from San Jose-based DMC Stratex Networks Inc. (STXN) March 5 and opted to move forward with a merger with Proxim Inc. (PROX), also of Sunnyvale.
Western Multiplex CEO Jonathan Zakin said the company continued to believe in the long-term benefits of the merger of equals with Proxim, announced in January. DMC had launched its hostile bid Feb. 28 after investor jitters over the impending merger sent the share prices of both Western Multiplex and Proxim spiraling down. Under the DMC offer Western Multiplex shareholders would own 28% of the combined company, as opposed to half under the Proxim merger.
Posters on Yahoo!'s Western Multiplex expressed mixed reactions to the management decision. "Ego wins," wrote one disgruntled poster. "Too bad, really, for shareholders of Western Multiplex and DMC," agreed another.
But others were relieved that the original merger would go through. One poster wrote that the Western Multiplex/Proxim merger was "long term much better for the Western Multiplex shareholders, as the synergies of the two companies are laterally complementary, while the Western Multiplex/DMC deal would integrate similar markets and loose some additive benefits."
Another poster agreed that rejection of the DMC merger "may be too bad for traders but not long term investors."
Over on Yahoo!'s DMC board posters were largely disappointed over the loss of the Western Multiplex deal. "The more I thought about this deal, the more it grew on me. I liked it a lot. It was classic DMC."
Some posters felt there was still hope for acquisition of Western Multiplex in the future. Observed one: "It will take at least 2 quarters for Proxim and Western Multiplex integration, which will be management's primary focus. Within these quarters, the integration...