Netscape Stock Up

Netscape said on Thursday it has stepped up talks with software makers in its bid to battle Microsoft , but declined to comment on growing speculation it was in negotiations to be acquired. Talk of an acquisition fuelled another jump in Netscape's stock, and some officials said they suspected several major technology firms were interested in buying the troubled Internet software maker. Netscape shares rose $2.69 to $21.94 on Nasdaq.

"I believe there is a high likelihood there are substantive talks going on in various Silicon Valley and technology company boardrooms," said Jim Breyer, managing partner of the venture capital firm Accel Partners in Palo Alto, California. "The strategic fit of Netscape with some major companies like Oracle and IBM is very clear and very compelling," Breyer said. Other companies that have been mentioned include online service America Online Inc., computer workstation maker Sun MicroSystems and Hewlett-Packard Co. Most of the companies named as interested buyers either declined to comment or were unavailable. However, some analysts said they doubted computer giant International Business Machines Corp. was involved in any talks. Breyer and other industry analysts said Netscape's enterprise software would be an attractive acquisition for almost any company trying to develop new "intranet" systems for internal communications within large corporations. At the same time, they said Netscape, which last month

reported its first loss since it went public and recently laid off 400 employees, could benefit from the kind of sales expertise of a larger computer company like IBM.