Rumors continue to circle enterprise resource planning vendors, with one of the latest stories to emerge recently being the suggestion that Paul and Jan Baan are ready to make a comeback.
Last Summer, the Baan brothers relinquished executive control of the company they founded, under pressure from an investment community disillusioned by the company’s financial performance and an unsuccessful spate of acquisitions. Now, according to Bruce Richardson, VP research strategy, with AMR Research, Tom Tinsley, who replaced Jan Baan as president and chief executive officer, is looking to move, and the Baan brothers are ready to make a comeback.
It’s no secret that Tinsley wants out ….. he wants to go back to McKinsey, to go back to what he used to do, said Richardson, I had a phone call the other day, and I couldn’t believe it. The Baan brothers want back in. This prospect is unlikely to be greeted enthusiastically by investors, although Richardson believes it might boost morale in a stalled company whose stock price recently slipped below $10, having traded at over $50 a year ago.
Officially, however, there seems little likelihood that Baan is ready to roll out a welcome mat for either of its founders. There is no truth in it, said Ronald Florisson, Baan’s VP of corporate communications, the company has changed in the recent year. I don’t hear any call for them to be back on the board. Florisson also denied that CEO Tinsley would leave the company.
