The other rumor ,,,

.... making the rounds on Friday was on Siebel being in talks to sell to Oracle.

While Siebel definitely will make a great fit for Oracle's suite, it is too early for Oracle to buy such a large company after making 3 sizable acquisitions recently. It will take a while, a year or more, to integrate PeopleSoft, Retek and Oblix with Oracle's offerings. Buying Siebel at this point will put those at risk too.

Siebel's denial has not been strong enough. So, the talks probably are for real. Whether they will result in a transaction is the question. I don't see it happening this year. In fact, Siebel has hinted that it is looking for acquisitions itself, with some $2 billion in cash sitting idle! Siebel should look seriously at Rightnow (RNOW) and SupportSoft (SPRT) as a way to enhance its current set of products.

There is also a possibility that Microsoft or IBM may decide to go after Siebel. Again, I think the chances are slim, especially with IBM as the buyer.