News
Oracle To Buy BEA for $7.85 Billion
Business software maker Oracle Corp. agreed Wednesday to buy BEA Systems Inc.
for about $7.85 billion, a compromise price that ends a months-long dispute
over the value of the company that pioneered Web services software.
The deal gives Oracle CEO Larry Ellison another trophy in his growing collection
of acquisitions. This time, the addition is expected to boost Oracle's position
in "middleware" -- the software that helps business programs interact
with underlying databases.
Oracle agreed to pay $19.375 per share for BEA, a premium of 24 percent over
BEA's closing share price of $15.58 on Tuesday. The total price is based on
405.3 million outstanding BEA shares as of Nov. 30. Oracle put the deal's value
at $8.5 billion.
The offer for the San Jose-based BEA is much richer than Oracle's previous
bid, which was rebuffed
in October. That overture was for $17
a share, valuing the company at about $6.7 billion. At the time, BEA's board
demanded a price of $21
per share.
The directors unanimously approved Wednesday's offer.
BEA's largest shareholder, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, applauded the deal.
In September, he demanded BEA's board put the company up for sale.
"This transaction is an excellent example of the great results that can
be achieved for all constituencies when the shareholder activist is able to
work cooperatively with management," Icahn said in a statement.
Oracle said it expects BEA to add 1 cent to 2 cents per share to adjusted earnings
in the first year after the deal closes. That requires stockholder and regulatory
approval.
Ellison said the two companies' middleware products are "overwhelmingly
complementary" and that BEA's proprietary WebLogic product, a Web services
application, "will be an increasingly important part of our offerings."
Ellison has already spent more than $25 billion during the past three years
buying a long list of competitors, including PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and
Hyperion Solutions.
Shares of Oracle fell 4 cents to $21.27 in Wednesday morning trading, while
BEA stock gained $2.96, or 19 percent, to $18.54.