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A 25 percent premium for BEA in an all-cash offer from Oracle elicited a mild chuckle from BEA's VP of business planning and development, William Klein. $6.66 billion won't be enough to yank BEA into the Oracle fold. After Oracle made an offer to BEA today, Klein responded with a polite letter that likely concealed a hearty laugh from BEA's principals.

"It is apparent to our Board, however, that BEA is worth substantially more to Oracle, to others and, importantly, to our shareholders than the price indicated in your letter," Klein said in his public response to Oracle president Charles Phillips.

Just what BEA may be worth is something of a mystery. As Klein noted in his letter, BEA is not current with its SEC filings.

"We believe that the absence of current financial information in the public markets limits investor visibility into our performance," said Klein.

BEA noted in a public statement that they sent this response letter to Oracle before Oracle's bid was published this morning.

MarketWatch noted investor Carl Icahn has a significant stake in BEA. Icahn wants BEA sold, and he stands to make $200 million in the deal.