China-based CDC Corporation (CHINA) and CRM provider Onyx Software (ONXS) have exchanged words in the media about their ongoing courtship, with CDC saying it is available to talk about acquistions and Onyx replying that it will take its time to consider all its possibilities.

CDC announced that it had approached Onyx SoftwareCorporation about a possible strategic transaction to build a market leader in the enterprise software market by combining CDC Software with Onyx Software Corporation.

Under its proposal, CDC Corporation would contribute all the assets of CDC Software–which includes Ross Systems, Inc., Pivotal Corporation and a majority interest in Industri-Matematik International–and make a substantial infusion of up to US$50 million to Onyx in exchange for a majority of Onyx's common stock. The deal would keep Onyx a publicly listed company.

However, CDC says it has been unable to have a direct meeting with Onyx's management to discuss its proposal.

Onyx says over the past year it has been successfully executing a clear growth strategy and it is not surprising that CDC expressed an interest in it.

However Onyx is playing hard-to-get and says the unsolicited proposal from CDC will be considered in the same way as any other proposal. Onyx says it received CDC's unsolicited proposal on December 6, 2005 and a meeting had been scheduled to discuss this proposal.

In November 2003, CDC Corporation and Onyx Software Corporation had made competing bids for Pivotal Corporation after Pivotal had entered into a merger agreement with Talisma Corporation. While CDC ultimately prevailed by acquiring Pivotal Corporation in February 2004, at the time, Onyx had stated that it expected the synergies of a Pivotal/Onyx merger to be significantly accretive to shareholders, the benefits of which could begin as early as the first or second quarter after completion.