Applying a Grand Old Duke of York strategy to Gupta Corp, Oracle Systems Corp has taken advantage of the effect of news of its holding on the price to make a quick turn on a lot of those Gupta shares it bought, selling 430,000 for $13.38 each and 205,000 for $13.07 each, having bought them at prices between $8.14 and $12.00; it now has only 2.4% but says it regards the merger talks with Gupta as on-going; an interested bystander in all this is Novell Inc, which holds 16% of Gupta; Oracle said its investment bankers met with Gupta’s board yesterday to discuss a possible business combination and that Gupta said it needs more time to evaluate its business and strategic alternatives before talking further; the news sent Gupta shares into a renewed decline, and they fell back by $1.6825 to $11.50, and Powersoft Corp shares rose 50 cents to $51.25 on relief the alliance was moot.
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