Oracle Includes J.D. Edwards in New Bid

Business software maker Oracle Corp. on Thursday reaffirmed its determination to devour rival PeopleSoft Inc., saying it was prepared to pay an extra $1.2 billion to include J.D. Edwards & Co. in the hostile takeover.

In making a series of minor changes to its unsolicited $19.50-per-share bid, Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle estimated that it would have to spend $7.5 billion to buy PeopleSoft instead of $6.3 billion.

Oracle didn’t increase its per-share offer but would have to pay more because PeopleSoft is issuing an additional 53 million shares as part of its $1.8-billion acquisition of J.D. Edwards.

When it launched its PeopleSoft bid in June, Oracle created a loophole that would let it rescind the offer if J.D. Edwards became part of the package. Oracle closed that loophole.