WSJ.com - Oracle Raises Its Offer For PeopleSoft by 33%: "Business software maker Oracle Corp. raised its hostile takeover bid for rival PeopleSoft Inc. by 33% to $26 a share, or $9.4 billion, setting the stage for more high-stakes drama in the high-tech soap opera.
The all-cash offer tops Oracle's previous bid of $19.50 per share. The new offer is a 19% premium from PeopleSoft's closing price Tuesday of $21.89 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Oracle, Redwood Shores, Calif., is betting the new bid will win over PeopleSoft's major stockholders and pressure PeopleSoft's board to drop its staunch resistance to the offer, transforming what has been a hostile battle into friendly negotiation."
Okay, I think they mean it...
I've spent a lot of time focused on Oracle during the last couple months, from an industry analyst perspective, and I'm now much less skeptical about Oracle's intentions and the probability of the deal closing. Indeed, unless Oracle hits regulatory show-stoppers (which I consider unlikely, given SAP's overall market lead, the rate at which Microsoft is expanding in the mid-tier ERP etc. markets, and IBM's aspirations for industry-specific solutions), I think Oracle is going to succeed both with the acquisition and in exploiting the synergies between PeopleSoft and Oracle apps.
In fewer words: I'm impressed...
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