Mergers, Acquisitions and Takeovers Case Study

Oracle’s Bid for PeopleSoft: PeopleSoft’s Combat Strategies

OR

Abstract:
PeopleSoft, Inc., the second-largest enterprise software provider in the world, had been thwarting the hostile takeover attempt made by the Silicon Valley database giant, Oracle Corporation, since mid-2003. But Oracle has been relentlessly making unsuccessful attempts to take over PeopleSoft. Though its previous takeover attempts failed, on November 19th 2004, Oracle met with some success when a majority of PeopleSoft's shareholders expressed their support to its offer. Despite the shareholders’ support for the bid, Oracle still has to wait for the approval from the Delaware's Chancery Court for elimination of the final barrier-the 'Poison Pill' and the invalidation of the Customer Assurance Program, provisions inducted by PeopleSoft to prevent the takeover.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss Oracle's hostile takeover bid efforts, and PeopleSoft's combat strategies to thwart the bid
• To discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages to the two companies, their shareholders and customers, in the event of Oracle's success.

Keywords : PeopleSoft Inc. (PeopleSoft), Oracle Corporation (Oracle), Enterprise Software products and services, Competitive Strategies Case Study, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software, Database software products and services, Hostile takeover, Combat strategies, Poison pill, Customer Assurance

Contents : 
Introduction
Oracle’s Hostile Bid
PeopleSoft’s Combat Strategies
The Road Ahead
Hurdles to Oracle for the Take Over
US Department of Justice’s Lawsuit against Oracle
EU Commission’s Enquiry on Oracle’s Hostile Take Over Bid
Oracle Vs PeopleSoft – Timeline