The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has ended its review of
PeopleSoft's planned acquisition of JD Edwards, clearing the way
for the transaction to close later this month.PeopleSoft chief executive officer Craig
Conway hailed the DOJ approval as great news. His company has been
racing to close the acquisition, announced in early June and valued
at $1.75bn, ever since Oracle launched a hostile bid to take over
PeopleSoft.
PeopleSoft's planned deal with JD Edwards,
would bring together two of the largest providers of enterprise
applications, allowing PeopleSoft to push Oracle aside as the
number-two vendor in that market, behind SAP.
When Oracle first launched its bid, days after
PeopleSoft and JD Edwards announced their plans to combine, company
executives expressed a preference for buying PeopleSoft before it
could swallow JD Edwards.
But Oracle executives responded Monday to news
of the DOJ's decision by pledging to complete their takeover plans,
even if JD Edwards is part of the package.
"We remain fully committed to acquiring
PeopleSoft, with or without JD Edwards," an Oracle spokesman
said.
Oracle has extended for the second time the
deadline on its tender offer to acquire PeopleSoft shares. It is
offering PeopleSoft shareholders $19.50 in cash, for a total of
$6.3 billion, in exchange for a majority ownership stake in
PeopleSoft.
The Oracle offer was set to expire on 18 July
but this has been pushed back to 15 August. Oracle has so far
acquired 13.8% of PeopleSoft stock.
Stacy Cowley writes for IDG News Service
