Corel's names new CFO

After a four-month search, software developer Corel Corp. (Nasdaq: CORL) announced Monday that John Blaine would be the company's new chief financial officer.

Blaine, who will also serve as executive vice-president, will replace Michael O'Reilly, who resigned Dec. 15.

The news did little to excite investors, who sold the stock down 23/32 to 6 1/8, or 11 percent below its price at Monday's open.

The announcement of O'Reilly's departure had sent stock in Corel down more than 20 percent. He was considered a key architect of the company's turnaround and a source of much-needed discipline. Around the same time, the company, which had risen on Linux buzz, made a sharp drop after announcing it would miss estimates in its fourth quarter. It didn't help the stock much when Corel missed estimates in its first quarter, either.

Blaine was previously vice-president and controller at Sterling Commerce Inc. (NYSE: SE).

O'Reilly, who joined Corel in 1997 after 21 years at accounting firm KPMG, will continue to work at Corel as an independent advisor until a merger with Inprise/Borland Corp. (Nasdaq: INPR) is completed a Corel spokeswoman said.

Corel competes with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT).