Court demands sensitive Oracle sales data

SAN FRANCISCO: Oracle Corp. sales documents detailing highly confidential information, such as which companies receive discounts on Oracle's business software products and the size of the discounts, are likely to be made public, a federal judge said.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said the documents - which specify the discounts that hundreds of companies have received from Oracle - were "highly relevant" in helping him determine whether Oracle's hostile takeover bid of PeopleSoft Inc. can move forward.

Walker's ruling came at a special post-trial hearing in the government's case to block Oracle's $7.7 billion takeover bid of PeopleSoft. A month-long trial in San Francisco set to determine whether the takeover bid can proceed ended in July.

Oracle says the takeover is needed to help grow its business software segment but the government believes it would result in less competition and lead to higher software prices.

Walker, who will solely determine the outcome of the trial, cautioned that the documents will be made public only if he uses them in his final ruling - but he made clear he believes the disputed Oracle documents are germane to the outcome of the antitrust case.

A ruling in the case, one of the biggest hostile takeover battles in the U.S. technology industry, is expected before the end of September, although some court observers believe a ruling could come as early as next Friday.

"The court is not trying to be insensitive to Oracle ... but these documents are highly relevant to a number of issues in this case," said Walker, who called the documents a "treasure trove."

Dan Wall, Oracle's lead attorney in the case, said during a court break that he believed at least some of sales documents, known as "discount forms," would eventually be released.

COMPETITORS GETTING SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS

It was unclear what significance details about which Oracle customers received discounts and the level of such discounts might have for the government's case or Oracle's case.

During the trial, the government cited Oracle discount forms to try to show that the biggest reason Oracle sales staff often sought lower software prices was because of direct competition from PeopleSoft.

The government said the fierce competition between the two California-based companies is a major reason the merger should be blocked.

In court, Wall said Oracle feared the documents will end up in the hands of competitors and customers, which could demand even bigger profit-shaving discounts in the future for software that helps them manage operations such as human resources and finances.

"What we fear is SAP getting a hold of these documents and saying (to customers that they) are being abused by Oracle," Wall told Walker. Germany's SAP AG is the world's biggest business software maker and has been steadily increasing its market share recently in the United States.

Walker agreed with Oracle's request to keep specific comments Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison made about the company's merger and acquisition strategy under court seal.

Those comments were made in videotape depositions. Oracle's consideration of buying other technology companies, in addition to PeopleSoft, was revealed during the trial.

Lawyers for several companies, including PeopleSoft, Microsoft Corp., and computer giant International Business Machines Corp. attended Friday's session to argue why confidential information, such as contract terms and sales strategies, should not be made public.

Walker said he would hold off on making a decision on whether revenue figures in internal PeopleSoft documents might be made public. The "revenue columns," as Walker described the information, is contained in "How to beat" sales guides PeopleSoft made to compete against Oracle and SAP.