The Enterprise Landgrab Continues: Oracle Buys BEA For $8.5B, Sun Buys MySql for $1B

from the buying-in-the-air dept

Something must be in the air today, as two big acquisitions were announced this morning. First, Oracle announced that it will fork over $8.5 billion for middleware maker, BEA. BEA has been on the radar since last October, when BEA rejected Oracle's unsolicited $6.7 billion offer. Carl Icahn, BEA's largest shareholder, had initially agreed with BEA's counter offer of $21 per share, but then later started pushing publicly for the sale. Oracle held fast to its offer of $17 per share, so it's surprising to see that they were able to agree on $19.375 per share, especially when there were seemingly no other bidders. These acquisitions continue an overall trend of consolidation in the enterprise software market, kicked off by Oracle's 2004 acquisition of PeopleSoft. Since then, Oracle has spent about $110 billion in its acquisition of about 30 companies. Oracle is in a battle with German software giant, SAP, who is also knee deep in the land grab with its recently successful $6.7 billion acquisition for Business Objects. Meanwhile, Sun will spend $1 billion for open source database maker, MySql, making a strong play in the $15 billion enterprise database market. This deal makes sense for Sun, who has been building up its stable of open source products. That said, when will the speculation begin for an Oracle-Sun merger? Both hate Microsoft deeply, and both have been trying to expand beyond their core markets. And, MySql even rejected Oracle's acquisition offer back in 2006. At some point, someone's going to think it makes sense for the two to combine.

Filed Under: acquisitions
Companies: bea, mysql, oracle, sun

Hey, Icahn, Haven't You Heard Of Playing Hard To Get?

from the blowing-it dept

Despite having publicly pushed BEA to sell itself, Carl Icahn's initial response to Oracle's takeover attempt was to say that the offer was too low at $17 per share. BEA itself responded by counteroffering at $21 per share. However, Oracle stood fast and said that since there didn't appear to be any competition, it saw no reason to raise the bid. It also said that the $17 offer would expire Sunday night. Of course, seeing as it's now Monday, the offer has, indeed, expired. Yet, Carl Icahn isn't happy. He's now demanding that BEA put the $17 offer to a shareholder vote and is threatening to sue over it. Perhaps it's just me, but this feels like one of those situations in a bad movie or TV show where two sides are negotiating, and even though one side has instructed everyone to stand firm and play hard to get, as soon as the other side stands firm itself, one guy in the corner gives in and says "take the deal guys! take the deal!" You can almost hear the sighs of exasperation from BEA's board members muttering under their breath and trying to kick Icahn to stay quiet for a little longer to see if Oracle comes back again with another bid.

Filed Under: acquisitions, carl icahn
Companies: bea, oracle

Ellison Looks To Pull A PeopleSoft On BEA

from the gotta-keep-SAP-out-of-the-headlines dept

You didn't think that Larry Ellison would let SAP keep the headlines very long for moving to buy Business Objects did you? Just a couple days after that news broke, Ellison made an unsolicited bid to buy BEA. BEA has rejected the offer, saying that it's too low -- and responding in a rather aggressive manner. Of course, this might sound like deja vu. Oracle made an unsolicited bid for PeopleSoft four years ago (days after PeopleSoft announced it was buying JD Edwards), which the company spurned leading to a protracted legal fight that eventually resulted in Oracle winning, and Ellison's antagonists getting shunted aside. That took 18 months. How long do you think this one will take? In the meantime, the lesson seems clear. When two Oracle competitors announce a multi-billion dollar deal, give it two or three days before Oracle will respond with its own (unsolicited) multi-billion dollar acquisition attempt.

Companies: bea, business objects, oracle, peoplesoft, sap