High-Tech merger mania rages on

The rate at which technology companies are being bought up appears to be

accelerating in 2000 after breaking all previous records in 1999. Here is a

summation of this week's four biggest mergers worth a combined $10 billion:

* Canada's Corel, which specializes in Linux software, said it has agreed to

buy Inprise, formerly known as Borland International, for $1.03 billion in

stock in the largest Linux acquisition ever. Inprise is a leader in

Linux-based Internet-access products.

The acquisition will create a company with combined revenues of $418 million

last year. Inprise had profits of $22.7 million on revenue of $174.8 million

in 1999. Corel had profits of $16.7 million on revenue of $243.1 million for

its most recent fiscal year. Inprise's 850 employees will join Corel's

workforce of 1,250.

Borland was founded in 1983 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Philippe Kahn.

Borland which virtually owned the PC database software market at one point ran

intro trouble when it purchase Ashton-Tate for a then record $425 million. The

company changed its name to Inprise in 1998. Ironically, Microsoft, Borland's

arch rival, bought 10 percent of Inprise in June.

* VA Linux Systems of Sunnyvale, California, which recently set a first day

trading record with a 700+percent rise in its stock value, announced it has

agreed to pay $900 million for Andover.Net a provider of Linux support

products and services. Shares of VA Linux shot up $30 on the news to $136. The

deal was announced on the second day of the LinuxWorld Expo in New York where

both company had large booths. "This acquisition moves VA Linux forward

on the path to being the biggest name in Linux and Open Source," said

Larry Augustin, founder, president and CEO of VA Linux Systems. "With our

purchase of Andover.Net, we can offer the developer community a better

infrastructure for Open Source development, and expand the range and

effectiveness of solutions available to our customers."

* Lucent Technologies is paying nearly $3 billion in stock for Ortel, a

leading developer of optical components used to upgrade cable TV networks for

Internet and telephone service.

The deal will help Lucent, a leading developer of optical technology for

telephone networks, meet demand for equipment that enables high-volume,

two-way communications over cable systems, which were originally designed to

broadcast TV programming in only one direction. Ortel is based in Alhambra,

California. It will become part of Lucent's optoelectronics component

division.

* Kana Communications, which makes software used to manage e-mail for

companies doing business on line, agreed to buy Silknet of Software

Manchester, New Hampshire, for $4.2 billion in stock to add programs that let

customers track orders on the Internet. Kana's customers include online

auctioneer eBay Inc. and online brokerage

E*Trade. Web retailers can send consumers offers aimed at products they seek.

Kana's clients need Silknet's software to handle the growing number of

shoppers on the Web. The combined company is expected to have about 600

employees and $85 million in revenue this year.