PeopleSoft chief executive officer Craig Conway has
blamed Oracle's lingering takeover campaign for lost and delayed
sales.
When Oracle finally backs off, "some amount of deals that have
been held or deferred will be released", Conway said.
PeopleSoft's first-quarter revenue of $643.1m fell slightly
short of analyst expectations, marking the first time the company
has missed estimates since Oracle launched its takeover bid last
June.
Several large deals closed just after the quarter ended, and
PeopleSoft expected business to pick up in coming quarters.
He also pointed a finger at Oracle when asked by an analyst how
many customers are delaying buying decisions until the takeover
tussle is resolved, Conway declined to provide an estimate.
"It's a moving target, but it's always a positive number," he
said. "The list continues to grow, but some of those deals can't
wait. They close for our competitors."
SAP reported a 45% increase in its US business in the first
quarter. Conway cited SAP as PeopleSoft's primary rival and said
that while SAP gobbled up US deals, PeopleSoft had a particularly
strong quarter in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Still, Oracle's bid continues to suck up PeopleSoft's resources.
Although analysts said that Oracle has little chance of acquiring
PeopleSoft, thanks in large part to an antitakeover provision in
PeopleSoft's bylaws known as a "poison pill", Oracle has persisted
in its $9.4bn cash offer to PeopleSoft's shareholders for control
of the company.
Chief financial officer Kevin Parker said PeopleSoft had spent
$55m to date fending off Oracle's advances and will spend another
$10m to $12m next quarter, when PeopleSoft, for the first time,
will exclude the costs of its battle with Oracle.
"We've gotten to the point where we've got to make choices
between paying our lawyers and trying to run the business," he
said. Excluding Oracle-related expenses from PeopleSoft's operating
costs will allow the company to devote the necessary resources to
development, according to Parker.
Conway said the US Department of Justice's lawsuit to block
Oracle's attempted takeover on antitrust grounds has relieved some
of the pressure on PeopleSoft.
"We hope the remaining distractions associated with Oracle will
be resolved in Q2"
In addition to its poison pill, PeopleSoft has on its side the
DOJ's opposition to the deal and the European Commission's
trepidation about it. The EC's investigation of the proposed
acquisition is in hiatus while the organisation awaits more
information from Oracle, but the commission has already served
Oracle with a list of objections.
Stacey Cowley writes for IDG News Service