Massucci's Take: Sun Microsystems gambles and wins with Oracle

Even a day after the news broke, this morning I still find the deal surprising: Two weeks after turning down IBM's offer, Sun Microsystems (JAVA) found a buyer in Oracle (ORCL).

The deal was unexpected because Sun appeared be back-peddling when negotiating with IBM (IBM), willing to settle for less money and then having to remind IBM last week it was still for sale. IBM did not bite. In swooped -- a term that seems oddly matched with the name -- white-night Larry Ellison. He saved the day and even paid a bit more than IBM offered for Sun.