Oracle makes bid for PeopleSoft
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Four days after application software provider PeopleSoft Inc. signed a $1.7 billion deal to buy J.D. Edwards & Co., an even bigger fish announced this morning it wants to swallow PeopleSoft. <br>
Four days after application software provider PeopleSoft Inc. signed a $1.7 billion deal to buy J.D. Edwards & Co., an even bigger fish announced this morning it wants to swallow PeopleSoft.
Oracle Corp., the world's largest enterprise software company, made a $5.1 billion cash offer for PeopleSoft, of Pleasanton, Calif.
'We think the time is right to present shareholders with an alternative plan,' Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a predawn teleconference with analysts. The deal would be 'a much safer road for PeopleSoft shareholders,' Ellison said.
Oracle's $16-a-share offer is nearly $1 above the Thursday closing price of PeopleSoft stock, which has hit a 52-week low of $11.75 and a high of $22.50. The price 'is based on the performance of PeopleSoft in the market. ' Their stock price has been sinking,' Ellison said.
The deal, yet to be reviewed by PeopleSoft's board, also would require shareholder and regulatory approvals. It could mean that the J.D. Edwards acquisition might be called off, although Jeff Henley, Oracle's chief financial officer, said, 'We are certainly interested in Edwards. ' It's simply a matter of the terms of the deal and the price of the deal.' In a statement, Oracle said it would 'review whether, and on what terms, Oracle would support that transaction.'
Analysts noted that Oracle and PeopleSoft products overlap in some areas. Ellison, Oracle's high-profile leader for more than two decades, pointed to synergies: 'Most PeopleSoft customers are running Oracle databases.'
Both vendors' software is widely used at federal agencies.
Oracle said it would offer enhanced support including putting advanced features of PeopleSoft software into new versions of Oracle eBusiness Suite.
Oracle executives, labeling the deal 'an acquisition of consolidation,' said there would be opportunities for cost-cutting to eliminate duplication while at the same time combining talent for better products.
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