TAKEOVER BID Documents list companies that Oracle has in its sights
Oracle weighed bids for eight other companies besides PeopleSoft.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Takeover-hungry Oracle Corp. has made it clear that it intends to gobble up other companies no matter how its $7.7 billion bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft turns out, but the selections on its acquisition menu had been a secret -- until now.
The Justice Department provided some insights into Oracle's thinking late Monday with the release of previously confidential documents that listed the company's potential prey as of April 2003. The government submitted the documents as evidence in an antitrust trial seeking to block Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft.
Oracle's shopping list consisted of five business applications software makers and four other companies involved in other industry niches. The 48-page analysis included the pros and cons of pursuing a bid for each of the targeted companies.
Besides PeopleSoft, the other business applications software makers in Oracle's sights were Lawson Software Inc., Cerner Corp., SunGard SCT Inc. and J.D. Edwards & amp; Co., which PeopleSoft bought for $2 billion last summer.
Oracle also considered pursuing bids for BEA Systems Inc., Sybase Inc., Business Objects and Document Inc., which EMC Corp. ended up buying late last year for $1.8 billion.
Deposition
In a videotaped deposition shown late Monday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison also touted another business applications software maker, Siebold Systems Inc., as an appealing target, suggesting it would rank as his third choice behind PeopleSoft and San Jose-based BEA Systems. Ellison made those remarks last month, nearly a year after Oracle began its pursuit of PeopleSoft.
While its PeopleSoft bid remains in legal limbo, Oracle has repeatedly said it's eager to make other deals. Last week, Oracle chairman Jeff Henley told reporters the company hopes to pull off at least one or two multibillion dollar acquisitions in the next year, even if its PeopleSoft bid collapses.
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