Get this: BEA Systems managed to grow sales 55% during the first six months of rotten 2001.

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Its offer carries a 24.4% premium on BEA Systems' closing price on Tuesday.

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In September BEA Systems, the big e-commerce softwaremaker in San Jose, Calif.

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"This is the most complex undertaking ever attempted in software, " says William Coleman, who cofounded Oracle rival BEA Systems and now runs server-tech firm Cassatt.

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") In addition, this is the first full quarter since Oracle's acquisition of BEA Systems, which may be weighing on investors' minds. (See " BEA Waited and Reaped.

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