Oracle Acquires Hyperion Solutions

New York Times ^ | March 2, 2007 | ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED

[nickcarraway]

Oracle announced a deal today to acquire Hyperion Solutions, which makes software that allows corporations to analyze and track their performance, for about $3.3 billion.

The deal is the latest trophy in a long string of acquisitions by Oracle, the database software giant that has been struggling to grow from within.

In December, Oracle posted strong earnings growth for its second fiscal quarter, but its growth in license sales disappointed investors. The company said at the time that it had failed to close some crucial licensing deals during the quarter. License sales rose 28 percent in the quarter, but that was down from 80 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Under terms of the deal, Oracle will pay $52 a share in cash for each share of Hyperion, a 21 percent premium over Wednesday’s closing price of $42.84. The deal is expected to close in April.

“The acquisition of Hyperion makes Oracle the category leader in the high-growth enterprise performance management market,” Oracle’s chief executive, Lawrence J. Ellison, said in a statement.

Oracle has long been known as one of the most aggressive acquirers of technology companies.

Led by Mr. Ellison, who sees acquisitions as a tool for growth, the company has at times seemed on the verge of gobbling nearly every rival in the business software market. In the last three years, Oracle spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions, including buying two of its most formidable competitors, PeopleSoft and Siebel.

PeopleSoft, the company Oracle fought over for nearly two years, was its most notable deal.

In December 2004, after a battle for control that grew nasty, Oracle finally acquired PeopleSoft for about $10.3 billion, becoming the second-largest maker of business-management software.

The day after completing the deal, Oracle fired four top officers of PeopleSoft.

[nickcarraway]

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[martin_fierro]

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[Hoplite]

I'm glad to see the buyout is at $52, which will in some way compensate a friend who's been living his life in his cubicle over at Hyperion these last couple of years.

[nickcarraway]

Anyone from Hyperion who is looking, give me a Freepmail.

[AZGunSlinger]

Performance Management consultants looking for a new challenge - we have a very strong national team...ping me if you want to get onto the next wave in this space.

[ShadowAce]

[Bratch]