Baan up 10 % News in Wallstreet Jornal 03/27/00

Ich bin neu hier, habe aber schon länger das board gelesen

hier mein 1. posting



ERP – The Wall Street Journal

E-Business:
Baan to Announce Reorganization, Is Likely to Float Partially One Unit
By Neal E. Boudette

03/27/2000
The Wall Street Journal
(Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Embattled business software supplier Baan Co. is
putting the finishing touches on a reorganization plan that is aimed at
unleashing value hidden in its diverse product lines and is likely to
feature a partial flotation of one unit.

The Dutch company, which reported a disastrous fourth-quarter loss and
saw the resignation of its two top executives in January, will announce
the plan along with details of an expected first-quarter loss on April
20, acting Chief Executive Pierre Everaert said.

Mr. Everaert and Baan 's management board met over the weekend and will
probably reach a final decision on the reorganization this week, he
said. He declined to discuss the specifics of the plan but said Baan 's
adviser, investment bank Lazard Freres, had conducted an in-depth
analysis of how the company could best make use of its assets.

"We are now looking at where these assets fit in the market and what we
can do with them," he said in an interview in Copenhagen, where Baan
opened a marketing center with Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer
Corp. last week.

Once a high-flying provider of software that enables manufacturers like
Boeing Co. to coordinate internal operations, Baan has struggled in the
past three years and lost money six quarters in a row.

Mr. Everaert, a former Philips Electronics NV executive who stepped
down as Baan supervisory board chairman to take control of the company
Jan. 4, indicated Baan probably won't emerge from the reorganization as
a single, integrated company. It is open to strategic partners for some
lines of business as well as a merger or alliance for the parent
company, he said.

" Baan right now is structured in the classic way, with one center of
development, one for financing, one for marketing. That is not working
anymore," he said. In the New Economy, even obscure technologies or
businesses can be leveraged to create value, he added. "The new
generation of business says, if you can generate a return, you unleash
the idea and grow it."

Although Baan 's market capitalization was as high as $11 billion in
1997, it is now valued at $1 billion. In Amsterdam on Friday, its
shares closed at 5.20 euros ($5.08). They are down 64% this year.

One division of Baan where analysts see value is its Aurum division,
which makes customer relationship-management systems-software that
allows corporations to interact with business customers over the
Internet. Mr. Everaert acknowledged that spinning off Aurum is one of
the ideas Baan and Lazard Freres are considering.

Analysts have hailed the idea, noting that other makers of so-called
customer relationship-management software have achieved towering
valuations. The leader in this market, Siebel Systems Inc., has a
market value of $28 billion on 1999 sales of $790 million. Baan doesn't
break out Aurum sales.

Offering even a minority stake in Aurum could possibly yield hundreds
of millions of dollars, enough to turn around the company's financial
situation and fund critical development projects, said Bruce Richardson
at AMR Research Inc. in Boston. With Aurum shares in hand, Baan also
would have the kind of stock options that could attract and retain top
executives. "Floating Aurum would be one of the smartest things they
could do," Mr. Richardson said. "It would solve a lot of problems for
Baan and solve them fast."