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EU denies report on Oracle review

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CIOL Bureau
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BRUSSELS: The European Commission dismissed a report published in Financial Times recently, that said it was likely to open an in-depth review of Oracle's hostile bid for rival PeopleSoft.



The newspaper cited "people close to the case" as saying the Commission would open a five-month probe into the takeover if business software maker PeopleSoft concluded a friendly takeover of rival J.D. Edwards.



But Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres said the EU executive had not even begun its first stage one-month review of the deal, let alone open up an in-depth examination, which could add as much as four months to the time-line.



"It's purely speculative at this stage," Torres said. "The deal has not even been notified... to the European Commission, so how could the Commission know at this stage whether it will be cleared in first phase or whether the Commission will need an in-depth investigation?" she added.



PeopleSoft has rejected Oracle's all-cash $6.2 billion bid and is rushing to close the $1.78 billion merger with J.D. Edwards, which could also influence the Commission's view of the deal.



"There are quite a few 'ifs' that could complicate this examination," Torres said. U.S. competition authorities, already examining Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft, on Monday made their second request for more information about the deal.



Oracle said it was not surprised by the request, given the deal's size and scope. PeopleSoft has said regulators are likely to take a long time examining an Oracle takeover and there is a significant likelihood that they would block it.



Oracle is currently the second biggest provider of business automation software behind market leader SAP AG. A PeopleSoft-J.D. Edwards marriage would be likely to bump Oracle down to a close third.



© Reuters

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