Suits fly in Oracle takeover bid
Ongoing battle between Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards continues
If the ongoing saga between Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards was a tennis match, the crowd would have whiplash by now.
At the time of going to press, and following a whirlwind week of legal drama, Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison held on to the hope of buying PeopleSoft by upping his original offer of $5.1bn to $6.3bn.
Last week PeopleSoft's board of directors voted unanimously to reject Oracle's initial offer (CRN, 16 June).
It also encouraged shareholders to reject the hostile bid, citing anti-trust reasons.
Now each company is resorting to a lawsuit. Oracle has filed a suit against PeopleSoft, its board and JD Edwards for what it claimed was a "collective effort to eliminate PeopleSoft shareholders' ability to accept Oracle's tender offer".
Ellison said: "Oracle remains committed to acquiring PeopleSoft and will not be deterred by management's manoeuvres to maintain control of a company they do not own.
"Oracle intends to support PeopleSoft customers and products fully for many years to come."
Meanwhile, PeopleSoft has filed a lawsuit against Oracle, claiming the vendor is trying to stop it from closing new sales.
It is also alleging that the plans Oracle has drawn up for the company after the acquisition amount to unfair business practice, trade libel and interference with its customer relationships.
Craig Conway, chief executive of PeopleSoft, said: "By making an offer with the acknowledged intent of eliminating PeopleSoft's business, Oracle seeks to disrupt PeopleSoft's efforts to complete new sales, thus effectively damaging PeopleSoft's business."
Finally, JD Edwards has announced it is to sue Oracle for $1.7bn, claiming its "arrogant and unlawful" actions are designed to wreck the JD Edwards deal with PeopleSoft and destroy shareholder value.