Oracle takeover: It's a wrap

By Dawn Kawamoto and Alorie Gilbert, CNET News.com
Monday, January 10, 2005 11:34 AM
Oracle is closing its PeopleSoft acquisition last Friday, after receiving more than 97 percent of PeopleSoft shares in its tender offer.

The announcement, made late Thursday, brings to an end the controversial 18-month takeover battle, which pitted two of the largest sellers of business software applications against each other and extended far beyond the usual fight over customers.

The buy is expected to make Oracle a more powerful competitor to major rivals, including IBM, Microsoft and SAP.

Oracle, which set a deadline last Thursday evening for PeopleSoft investors to tender their shares, was able to meet the 90 percent threshold to do a fast-track close on the deal and avoid a shareholder vote. A vote would have delayed closing the deal by four to six weeks.

Although such a vote would have delayed the formal close, Oracle had already won a controlling stake in the software rival last week, when investors tendered 75 percent of their shares ahead of the initial Dec. 28 deadline. Oracle extended the deadline twice to gather additional shares and speed the deal along.

PeopleSoft will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle, and the database giant will notify PeopleSoft employees on Jan. 14 whether they will remain or be terminated.

Oracle has already replaced some PeopleSoft executives with its own managers and has begun restructuring its own ranks. Prudential Equity Group reported in a research note on Thursday that Oracle has reorganized its own applications unit, firing many managers in that group.

During courtroom testimony in the parties' Delaware Chancery Court trial this past summer, Oracle indicated that it may lay off as many as 6,000 PeopleSoft employees.

Oracle's chief executive, Larry Ellison, however, said last month in an announcement that the two companies had entered a friendly deal and that Oracle expected to retain some of the PeopleSoft sales staff, as well as some senior engineers.

Oracle plans a Jan. 18 Webcast to introduce the newly combined company and discuss its integration plans.


WORTHWHILE?

0

0 votes
Blog

Talkback 0 comments

There are currently no comments for this post.


Tech Jobs Now!

Search for your ideal tech job:

Get network versatility with SSH tunneling and netcat

Open Source

Vincent Danen explains how to use netcat with SSH tunneling when you need to create a secure connection to a server from a remote location.


Read more »


 
Virtualize your way to cost savings
Build an infrastructure that is flexible, scalable, and economical, as you strive to become a truly agile business.

Red Hat Outlines Its Virtualization Strategy and Roadmap for 2009
» Watch the video




Where have all the bosses gone?

Blog thumbnail

I've had dreams of opening my own cafe or bistro...cum music store...cum music school. But, I soon gave up that dream when I realized it would require significant investment and..... by Eileen Yu

Read more »

Tags

  1. antivirus
  2. apple ipod
  3. cnet networks inc.
  4. desktop
  5. e - mail
  6. hard drive
  7. intuit inc.
  8. mcafee inc.
  9. microsoft corp.
  10. microsoft windows
  11. microsoft windows vista
  12. microsoft windows xp
  13. norton co.
  14. pc
  15. performance
  16. security
  17. software
  18. tool
  19. web
  20. web site