PeopleSoft to Buy J.D. Edwards in $1.5-Billion Deal

Software maker PeopleSoft Inc. said Monday that it is buying rival J.D. Edwards & Co. in a $1.5-billion stock swap that unites two companies vying to snap out of a recent sales lull.

The deal, expected to close in the third or fourth quarter, will create the world’s No. 2 maker of software that helps businesses manage personnel, supplies and other behind-the-scenes operations. Only Germany’s SAP will be larger in this niche.

The combined company will have about $2.8 billion in annual revenue. Some jobs will be cut, but no mass layoffs are planned, said Kevin Parker, PeopleSoft’s finance chief.

PeopleSoft will pay 0.86 share for each Edwards share. PeopleSoft was down $1.42 at $14.97, and J.D. Edwards rose 78 cents to $12.59, both on Nasdaq.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based PeopleSoft and Denver-based J.D. Edwards are betting their complementary strengths will help them weather a high-tech spending slump, which hurt the companies’ sales last year, though both still turned a profit.