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Oracle Finally Gets BEA

Whatever Larry wants, Larry gets...and BEA, Larry Ellison wants you. Actually, the free-spending Oracle honcho has wanted BEA for a while, and this week, he finally got it -- for almost $8 billion (or for $8.5 billion, depending on whose story you read).

The multibillion-dollar price tag, which represents more than $19 per share, is a nice bump up from the $17 per share that Oracle offered -- and BEA rejected -- in October. What amazes RCPU, though, isn't so much the money but the notion that Oracle is bringing yet another vendor into the fold. Dig this paragraph from the RCPmag.com story on the acquisition:

"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."

Sheesh! Put the price tags aside for a second, and think about this: How on earth is Oracle integrating all of those companies -- with all of their technology, cultures, partner bases and the like -- under its immense and very expensive umbrella? Integration is going pretty well, at least according to financial results, which have been fantastic lately.

But what's the secret? Acquisitions can be pretty rough for everybody involved -- except the folks at the top and some major shareholders who clean up money-wise. In the rank and file, they take a lot of work and can cause a lot of clashes. Yet, here's Oracle, spending like a contestant on the old "Wheel of Fortune," picking out prizes from the corner of the screen, and somehow making it all work. Color us impressed...and maybe a little frightened.

What's Oracle's secret to integration success? Do you have any tales to share of working with Oracle? Share them at [email protected].

Incidentally, Oracle wasn't the only big spender this week -- Sun splashed out a cool billion for MySQL.

And, if you were wondering about this week's reader feedback, we're saving it for next week. So, stay tuned, take a look at the latest entries (but ignore the photo -- it's two years old, and your editor has hair now), and send your thoughts on anything and everything to [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on January 17, 2008


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