Oracle to buy Hyperion for $3.3 billion in cash
Business software maker Oracle Corp. agreed to buy Hyperion Solutions Corp. for $3.3 billion in cash, renewing a shopping spree aimed at toppling German rival SAP.
The deal announced Thursday would give Oracle an arsenal of Hyperion products that are widely used by SAP’s customers. Hyperion’s tools, known as business intelligence software, help chief financial officers and other top corporate executives track their company’s performance.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Hyperion is the largest competitor to be acquired by Oracle since it purchased Siebel Systems Inc. for $6.1 billion a little over a year ago.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle will pay $52 a share for Hyperion. The price represents a 21% premium above the most recent closing price of Hyperion’s stock, which has traded from $26.65 to $45.18 during the last year.
Hyperion shares surged $8.73, or 20.4%, to $51.57. Oracle shares gained 34 cents to $16.77.
Oracle’s acquisition may trigger a scramble for other leading business intelligence software makers such as France-based Business Objects and Canada-based Cognos Inc., AMR Research analyst Bruce Richardson said. He thinks that Business Objects would be a logical takeover candidate for SAP and that Cognos may elicit a bid from IBM Corp.
The deal may even prod Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co. to wade into the fray with a bid to buy one of the top makers of business intelligence software, Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang said. “There is going to be a cascading effect in the marketplace,” he predicted.
In a statement Thursday, SAP said it remained focused on organic growth while acknowledging that it was on the lookout for “smart, well-placed acquisitions to round out our product capabilities on behalf of customers.”
The Hyperion acquisition is the latest move in an aggressive expansion launched by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison to upgrade his company’s business applications software, the computer coding that automates a wide range of administrative tasks.
Oracle makes most of its money from its market-leading position in database software, but growth in that market has tapered off in recent years -- a factor that convinced Ellison that Oracle needed to seize a bigger piece of the business applications market.
SAP has long been the leader in the applications field, but Oracle is narrowing the gap by snapping up other software makers, most notably PeopleSoft Inc. and Siebel Systems. Oracle has spent more than $20 billion on about 30 acquisitions during the last three years.
