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What happened?
Oracle (ORCL 0.22%) said this week that it’s purchasing cloud-computing company NetSuite (N) for $9.3 billion in cash, or $109 per share. The deal is one of Oracle’s largest in the company’s history, though not as big as its takeover of PeopleSoft in 2004 for $10.3 billion.
In existence for 18 years, NetSuite was the first company to offer cloud computing applications, and Oracle says the two companies’ services are complementary and each will coexist alongside the other.
NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson said in a press release that, “NetSuite will benefit from Oracle’s global scale and reach to accelerate the availability of our cloud solutions in more industries and more countries.” The deal is expected to close sometime this year.
Does this matter to shareholders?
Oracle’s purchase comes at a time when technology companies are focusing more of their attention and money on cloud computing.
The public cloud computing market is currently worth an estimated $203 billion, according to Gartner. That’s got everyone from Amazon.com to Samsung betting that they can take a piece of that pie (Amazon’s arguably taking the most) and Oracle aims grab its own slice with NetSuite.
Oracle said the purchase will be immediately accretive to its earnings on a non-GAAP basis in the full fiscal year. That’s great news for investors who might be concerned with the premium Oracle is paying for NetSuite. The company is effectively paying a 19% premium to the $83 per share NetSuite was trading at a day before the announcement.
Oracle’s purchase should certainly help the company solidify its position in the cloud computing space. Companies are increasingly looking to the lucrative reoccurring revenue that cloud applications bring. The deal still has to get the approval of shareholders and regulators, but once it does Oracle will be well on its way to building a stronger cloud computing presence.
