Oracle has set a 28 October deadline for BEA to accept its bid for the company. In a letter to BEA management today, Oracle president Charles Phillips added that BEA had again turned down its offer and had refused the chance to meet.

“Oracle urges the BEA board of directors to let BEA’s shareholders decide: sign an acquisition agreement with Oracle and allow the shareholders to vote. Oracle believes that our $17 per share price is generous and there are no offers for BEA above $17 per share,” Phillips wrote.

“Oracle has no interest in a long, drawn-out process to acquire BEA. If the BEA board refuses to execute an acquisition agreement and refuses to let their shareholders vote, then our $17 per share proposal to acquire BEA will expire at 5 p.m, PDT, on Sunday, October 28, 2007.”

In an earlier, 11 October letter to Oracle, BEA said it was “worth substantially more” that Oracle’s bid valuing it at $6.7bn. Many analysts disagreed with BEA, although the matter is clouded by the fact that the firm has not released financials recently because it is investigating stock option awards.

Most watchers expect that in the absence of rival suitors, BEA is still likely to accept an Oracle offer and possibly hasten more consolidation in the sector.