Oracle pleads its case to Europe
Oracle pleads its case to Europe
Business application software provider Oracle faces an anxious wait of around six weeks before finding out if it has been successful in overturning the European Commission's initial negative reaction to its proposed hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, after concluding its case for the acquisition to be approved ahead of the Commission's May 11 deadline.
Last month, the Commission stated its objection to the proposed deal on the grounds that it would reduce the number of players in the top tier business application software market to just Oracle and market leader SAP, a reflection of the view expressed by antitrust regulators in the U.S.
The Commission subsequently afforded Oracle the opportunity to persuade it otherwise, which it used to flag the competitor it said the Commission had not considered when delivering its initial decision – namely Microsoft. Probably not a foolish ploy on Oracle's part, given the Commission's recent expression of antipathy as to how the software giant goes about its business, the culmination of which was a 500 million Euro (AUD $805.7 million) fine.
SAP also used Oracle's appeal to put forth its views on the Commission's view of the market, arguing that it cannot be cleanly divided into two segments – multinational customers and small business users.
SAP spokesman Herbert Heitmann commented: "We don't care about the Oracle-PeopleSoft merger, but we do care about the definition of the market. Our solutions have the capability to serve both large and small customers."
A negative decision by either the EC or the Justice Department in the U.S., which will hear Oracle's appeal on June 7, will finally extinguish any lingering hope of Oracle succeeding in its US$9.4 billion (AUD$12.2 billion) takeover bid.
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