(Bloomberg) Oracle Corp. gave its cloud-services strategy a big boost by offering to buy NetSuite Inc. in a deal valued at about $9.3 billion.
Oracle, which sells software to big corporations, has been trying to shift more sales to cloud-based products increasingly demanded by its customers. New cloud services made up about 8 percent of the company’s total sales during its fiscal fourth-quarter. Buying NetSuite—whose products include customer relationship management software—will help Oracle compete against the likes of Salesforce.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
"Oracle and NetSuite cloud applications are complementary, and will coexist in the marketplace forever," said Oracle co-Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd in a statement Thursday. "We intend to invest heavily in both products—engineering and distribution."
The deal, which offers $109 per share in cash for NetSuite, will be “immediately accretive to Oracle’s earnings” on an adjusted basis, in the full fiscal year after closing, Oracle co-Chief Executive Officer, Safra Catz said.
Founded in 1998, NetSuite, with a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, sells cloud business software including customer relationship management and e-commerce tools. In May, the company unveiled software that unifies various accounting functions—for example, billing, revenue recognition, orders and subscriptions—into one system. NetSuite has more than 30,000 customers, the bulk of which are small and mid-size companies.
As of March, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and his family owned about 45.4 percent of NetSuite’s common stock, according to a company filing. Ellison has “control over approval of significant corporate transactions,’’ according to the filing.
Oracle shares jumped 1.8 percent to $41.66 in premarket trading. NetSuite shares surged 18.4 percent to $108.46.
