Shareholders in newly announced merger candidates, Arbor Software Corp and Hyperion Software Corp, voted with their feet after the deal was announced on Tuesday, driving the stock of Arbor down by 30%, while Hyperion fell 23% by the close of markets on Wednesday. The deal was touted by the companies concerned as the creation of a market leader in the fast growing analytical applications sphere, but stock holders have reacted badly to the proposed combination, probably because the two stocks are trading on different expectations. Hyperion’s earnings are predicted to grow by 25% through next year, while Arbor is expected to produce gains of closer to 50%. And on the revenue side, Arbor is growing by 70% while Hyperion only managed 32% in its last three quarters.
