Most famously, Oracle digested PeopleSoft in a $10 billion hostile transaction that ranks as the second-largest merger in software industry history. Back when Oracle stalked PeopleSoft, the target company used tactics that BEA executives clearly have studied. At the time, Oracle first made a low offer that PeopleSoft management dismissed as an attempt to distract the company and its customers – but Oracle eventually ended up paying 61 percent more than its initial bid. BEA management seems to have been betting on a similar outcome when Oracle came calling. Days after Oracle's bid, which was 25 percent higher than the company's trading price at the time, BEA insisted that Oracle could afford to pay more. Seagate's slick new storage for Mac and PC (Photos 1/9) But analysts don't think BEA is likely to command a premium from Oracle — partly because Oracle had already offered a healthy premium, and because Icahn has been pushing BEA to sell. In that kind of environment, Oracle has most of the leverage.