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Oracle to Acquire Sun Microsystems

Deal said to be worth $7.4 billion.

It was revealed today that the Board of Directors of Sun Microsystems unanimously approved a $7.4 billion takeover bid from the Oracle Corporation. The acquisition by Oracle of Sun Microsystems, known for pioneering efforts in open source and the Java programming language, comes after recent merger talks between Sun and IBM broke down.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said in a press release the move strengthens his company's position as the leading enterprise software provider and enables Oracle to offer end-to-end systems specifically tailored for each customer.

"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," Ellison said. "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system - applications to disk - where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up."

Oracle and Sun have a well-established relationship, with the Sun Solaris operating system an integral part of the Oracle database. Oracle Fusion Middleware, software that supports service-oriented architecture and which the company cites as its fastest growing business, is built on Java.

"Oracle and Sun have been industry pioneers and close partners for more than 20 years," said Sun Chairman Scott McNealy. "This combination is a natural evolution of our relationship and will be an industry-defining event."

 



 

Chad Vander Veen is a former contributing editor for Emergency Management magazine, and previously served as the editor of FutureStructure, and the associate editor of Government Technology and Public CIO magazines.