Oracle to acquire Seibel in £3.2bn deal
CRM leader to be taken over as Oracle continues its acquisition spree
Oracle is to acquire customer relationship
management (CRM) software provider Siebel in a $5.8bn (£3.2bn) deal.
The deal, which is dependent on a vote by
Siebel shareholders, is set to close in early 2006.
Oracle will maintain support for Siebel
products while incorporating the company’s CRM product range into its own, says
chief executive Larry Ellison.
‘This acquisition meets Oracle’s two key
criteria for a large buy, it is immediately accretive and strategically sound,
it makes us number one in a market where we already participate,’ he said.
‘Siebel is the CRM category leader, with more
than 4,000 customers and 3.4 million users live, so this move makes us number
one in sales automation.’
Siebel founder Tom Siebel says that this is a
very exciting day for him, his company, and its customers.
‘This is a very natural business combination,
and a customer driven event. We have been encouraged to move together by
customer and partners over and over again, particularly in the last couple of
years,’ he said.
‘The combination of Oracle’s capability with
Siebel CRM technologies and our domain leadership will assure the continued
success and advancement of this technology.’
The purchase of Siebel is Oracle’s ninth
acquisition of a company or product in less than 12 months, and means the vendor
will be supporting four CRM applications – its own, Siebel, and those previously
provided by PeopleSoft and JD Edwards.