Oracle boosts PeopleSoft bid
Published: 18 Jun 2003 12:46 BST
Oracle has raised its takeover bid for PeopleSoft to $19.50 per share, valuing the software company at $6.3bn (£3.73bn).
Oracle also filed a suit against PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, the application software maker that PeopleSoft has announced plans to acquire.
The move is not unexpected; analysts and industry watchers have been saying that Oracle's initial hostile takeover offer of $16 per share, which valued PeopleSoft at $5.1bn, was surprisingly low.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said his company had been speaking to some of PeopleSoft's majority shareholders who had indicated they needed to see a higher price in order to approve the deal.
"Oracle remains committed to acquiring PeopleSoft and will not be deterred by management's manoeuvres to maintain control of a company they do not own. Contrary to what PeopleSoft management would have you believe, Oracle intends to fully support PeopleSoft customers and products for many years to come," Ellison said in a release. "Satisfying those customers is the key to the success of this acquisition."
Earlier, Ellison had said that Oracle, should it succeed in its acquisition bid, would discontinue PeopleSoft's product line.
Oracle also said it would file a suit on Wednesday in Delaware against PeopleSoft, its board of directors, and J.D. Edwards "in response to their collective efforts to eliminate PeopleSoft shareholders' ability to accept Oracle's tender offer."
Executives at PeopleSoft could not immediately be reached for comment.
"We remain committed to completing the amended definitive merger agreement with PeopleSoft, and we maintain that the Oracle hostile tender offer is disruptive to that agreement," said Victor Chayet, J.D. Edwards' spokesman.
PeopleSoft's board has formally rejected Oracle's bid and PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway has sent a letter to PeopleSoft customers that called the Oracle offer "predatory." Earlier this week PeopleSoft sweetened its offer for J.D. Edwards in an attempt to stall the Oracle bid.
Last week, J.D. Edwards filed suit against Oracle, saying the takeover bid "tortiously interfered" with its deal with PeopleSoft.
PeopleSoft has also sued Oracle in connection to the hostile takeover bid.
Oracle said it is looking for a rescission of the amended deal between PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, and for PeopleSoft to eliminate its "poison pill."
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