Redwood City, California-based Oracle Corp, will sell part of its minority stake and at the same time the Japan unit will sell new shares, an Oracle Japan spokesman said. At today's opening price, the sale would raise 1 trillion yen (US$$9.5 billion).
"The purpose of the transaction is to reduce the ownership of Oracle Corp," said Yoshiaki Ezura, senior director of Oracle Japan's investor relations. He said the company needed the cash, but wouldn't elaborate.
Oracle Japan's shares rose by as much as their maximum 10,000 yen (US$93.8) limit for a second day to a record 101,000 yen US$950).
The share sale--arranged by Nikko Salomon Smith Barney Ltd--would be the second-largest in Japan, excluding the privatization of state-owned companies, after NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc's 1998 2.1 trillion yen (US$197 billion) initial public offering.
A Nikko Salomon spokesman declined to comment. Oracle Corp officials couldn't be reached to comment.
About three quarters of the shares will be sold to Japanese investors, and the remainder to international money managers, two people familiar with the plan said.
Oracle Japan's shares, which are currently traded on Japan's over-the-counter market, have more than doubled this year. The company plans to transfer the shares to the TSE next month.
Oracle Corp's shares rose 1 percent to 84 yesterday, after climbing almost 11 percent on Wednesday on its plans to form an online supply exchange for the convenience store industry with Chevron Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
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