Printer Friendly | Email Article | Reprints | RSS

(Page 1 of 2)

Top News Suspect Caught in Atlanta Court Shootings UN to Get Syria Timetable for Lebanon Pullout Iran Defiant in Face of United U.S., EU Approach MORE

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle Corp. on Tuesday opened a bidding war with SAP AG for retail software provider Retek Inc., offering about $500 million in a bid to stop its German rival from encroaching on a key market.

The proposed acquisition marked the surprise return of Oracle as an acquirer, only two months after it completed a contentious $10.3 billion acquisition of rival PeopleSoft, a deal it also said was aimed at better competing against SAP.

Oracle co-founder and Chief Executive Larry Ellison, who sees the software industry as poised for further consolidation, said on Tuesday the PeopleSoft integration was going "quite well" and that Oracle would be on the lookout for other acquisitions over the next year.

Ellison said the Retek bid was intended to defend Oracle's market share in North America, where SAP is aggressively expanding, and to extend Oracle's reach among retailers.

Retek customers include British grocery chain Tesco Plc and clothing San Francisco-based retailer Gap Inc. "Oracle's applications business in North America is larger than SAP's," Ellison said in a statement. "We intend to defend our No. 1 position."

Oracle offered $9 per share in cash for Retek, a 50-cent-per share premium to SAP's bid, made on Feb. 28.

Oracle is the world's top database software maker. Its top competitor in business planning software is market leader SAP.

Oracle shares fell 11 cents to $13.51 in after-hours trading on the Inet exchange from a close of $13.62 on Nasdaq.

Retek's stock jumped 17 percent after hours to $10.05 from a close of $8.59 on the Nasdaq, suggesting investors may be betting on a higher bid by either Oracle and SAP.

Oracle has around $9.6 billion in cash compared with SAP's cash pile of about $4.16 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

"Will there be an auction? We will have to wait and see how they (SAP) react," Ellison told analysts in a conference call.    Continued ...

1 | 2   Next

More Technology Music, TV and Photos to Lead at Mobile Phone Show FTC Says Anti-Spyware Vendor Shut Down Hanover Tech Fair Reveals Tomorrow's Hit Gadgets Do You Speak Tech? Video Game Firm Xfire Countersues Yahoo on Patents MORE