EU approves Oracle PeopleSoft deal
The European Union's (EU) Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has approved Oracle's $7.7bn (£4.2bn) hostile takeover bid of PeopleSoft.
Link: Oracle clears US hurdle for PeopleSoft
The Commissioner concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to prove the anti-competitive charges in software markets that allow large enterprises to automate and manage critical business functions such as financial planning and reporting (FMS), human resources (HR) and supply chain management.
It follows a similar decision made in the US earlier this year.
The EU said large, geographically distributed enterprises with different-sized local offices and subsidiaries have a choice of suppliers other than Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP.
‘Typically customers invite various vendors to bid for “enterprise software” projects (both FMS and HR), and evidence shows that other vendors such as Lawson, IFS, Intentia and QAD have won bids for large and complex enterprises in competition with Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP,’ the EU said.
The decision also follows the US Department of Justice’s decision not to appeal against a decision by a US federal court that overruled its opposition to the bid last month.
