Oracle looking to reduce bid for PeopleSoft
Oracle looking to reduce bid for PeopleSoft
The 16-month saga between Oracle and PeopleSoft took another twist recently after a director of Oracle said the final bid for the company could be even lower than expected.
This follows a price change which also happened in May, when Oracle reduced its bid from US$9.4 billion to US$7.7 billion.
Ellison made comments last week about the price being lowered to the judge he is trying convince to provide a successful conclusion to the takeover bid.
He cited at the Delaware Chancery Court that Oracle always planned to takeover Oracle years ago and he expects the acquisition to go through soon.
If Oracle succeeds in persuading the judge to dismiss PeopleSoft's antitakeover case then PeopleSoft's shareholders will be open to accepting Oracle's offers without the consent of PeopleSoft's board.
Oracle's motivations for buying the company are the central issue of another court case that will start in November.
This particular case will concentrate on PeopleSoft's allegation that Oracle has used unfair business practices when competing against PeopleSoft.
Experts say that Oracle will have to increase its bid in order to win over the PeopleSoft board.
Last week, Oracle had 11.7 million PeopleSoft shares tendered, which is down from 23.8 million offered in late September.
However, this price would have to rise again if shareholders thought PeopleSoft's board would let the deal go through.
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