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Oracle reached 7.5-billion-dollar deal for BEA Systems

Business Materials 16 January 2008 23:21 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- Business software giant Oracle Corp is to buy web services company BEA Systems Inc in a deal worth 8.5 billion dollars, the company said Wednesday.

The deal comes three months after Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison first launched a bid for BEA as part of his ongoing strategy to consolidate the business-software industry around his company. His previous purchases include PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems.

Oracle agreed to pay 19.375 dollars in cash for each BEA share, a 24-per-cent premium to Tuesday's closing price of 15.58 dollars on the Nasdaq Stock Market. BEA shares surged on news of the deal.

BEA rejected Oracle's first bid of 17 dollars a share, or 6.7 billion dollars but BEA Chairman and CEO Alfred Chuang called the deal the culmination of a "diligent and thoughtful process" to maximize stockholder value. The company's largest shareholder, billionaire Carl Icahn who owns 13 per cent of the company, also said he supported the deal.

Ellison said the transaction will give Oracle an expanded foothold around the world and in key markets for its business services.

"Simply stated, this combination of BEA gets us where we need to be, a leadership position at every level of the software stack and across more industry verticals in more geographic locations around the world," Ellison said in a conference call with analysts.

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