Oracle splashes $5.3bn on Micros

Tech giant hopes latest buy will accelerate its presence in leisure and retail market

Oracle has coughed up a whopping $5.3bn (£3.12bn) on leisure and retail tech specialist Micros in a bid to up its presence in the two markets.

Rumours of the deal have been circulating over the past few days but the tech giant finally confirmed the move – which Reuters claims is the firm's first multibillion-dollar buy in five years – this afternoon.

Maryland-headquartered Micros employs more than 6,600 staff globally and boasts 330,000 customers across 180 countries. The firm provides enterprises in the hospitality and retail industries with software, services and hardware as well as consulting and support.

Oracle, which last week claimed it was the second-largest SaaS provider after SalesForce in its latest earnings statement, paid $68 per share in cash for the firm, totalling $5.3bn, or $4.6bn net of Micros' cash. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014, subject to Micros' stockholders tendering the majority of shares as well as other customary closing conditions.

Oracle insisted it will be business as usual for Micros' dozens of business partners and assured them that it will keep in close contact with them about any changes.

Mark Hurd, Oracle's president, said the move will be mutually beneficial for the pair.

"Oracle has successfully helped customers across multiple industries harness the power of cloud, mobile, social, big data and the internet of things to transform their businesses," he said.

"We anticipate delivering compelling advantages to companies within the hospitality and retail industries with the acquisition of Micros."

Oracle's chief financial officer Safra Catz said she expects the deal to be "immediately accretive to Oracle's earnings on a non-GAAP basis and to expand over time".