FT.com / Companies / Technology - Oracle hits glitch in Sun Micro deal

Hmm…

Oracle disclosed a potential glitch in its $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Micrososystems late on Friday as it revealed that it had failed to win regulatory clearance for the deal by the expected deadline.

Most investors and industry observers had assumed that anti-trust clearance for the acquisition, which would see the world’s second-largest independent software concern buy one of the largest computer systems companies, was a foregone conclusion since the companies are not big competitors in any markets.

[…]

Despite the unexpected twist, a lawyer for Oracle played down the significance of the delay and suggested the deal would not be thrown off track.

Oracle also disclosed that regulators were studying the licensing terms for Sun’s Java software. The Java programming language and development tools are used widely by technology companies that compete with Microsoft, and Java is an essential ingredient of the software at companies like IBM and Nokia.

See the full article for details (free FT registration likely required).  I expect the deal will close, albeit perhaps with some conditions on Java licensing etc.

FT.com / Companies / Technology - Oracle hits glitch in Sun Micro deal