Oracle Corporation has decided to extend by two days its tender offer period for all outstanding shares of PeopleSoft following its failure to receive a sufficient number of share offers to complete the transaction. The new deadline expires at 8pm New York City time tomorrow.
Oracle took majority control of PeopleSoft last month following an 18-month long takeover struggle but it needs 90pc of outstanding shares to complete the acquisition. By the original 8pm Tuesday deadline PeopleSoft stockholders had tendered more than 357 million shares or approximately 89.4pc of PeopleSoft’s outstanding stock.
The US$26.50 a share offer received the backing of the PeopleSoft board.
The company said it may make extend the deadline for a second time if it had still not managed to secure the requisite number of shares but hoped that this would not be necessary.
Even while the takeover saga drags to a conclusion, Oracle as been laying the groundwork for the new organisation, shuffling the management team and even setting a launch date for the new entity. The company is planning a webcast for customers, partners and press on 18 January at which it will detail the vision for the newly merged organisation.
According to news reports, the company last week replaced two senior executives: executive vice-president for applications development Ron Wohl and executive vice-president for global support services Michael Rocha. They have been replaced by internal appointees John Wookey and Juergen Rottler, respectively.
The database giant has also made the first significant changes within PeopleSoft’s top management team. According to a 29 December regulatory filing, Oracle executives Chuck Philips and Safra Catz have been appointed in place of PeopleSoft co-president and chief financial officer, Kevin Parker and co-president Philip Wilmington.
By Brian Skelly
