Posted by Steve Kim | 4 comments
Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems
According to a number of reports, the European Commission decided on January 21, 2010 that Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems does not pose substantial interference to monopoly regulation and fair trade acts, thus authorizing the $7.4 billion takeover.
According to Neelie Kroes, the European competition commissioner in charge of analyzing this case, stated recently that she is “now satisfied that competition and innovation will be preserved on all the markets concerned,” and that “Oracle’s acquisition of Sun has the potential to revitalize important assets and create new and innovative products.”
Oracle also released a statement on the same day, deliver the same news. It also urged China and Russia to approve the acquisition in a similar manner and stated that it would try to finalize the transaction as soon as possible.
In April 2009, when Oracle, the world’s largest Database Management System (DBMS) firm revealed its decision to acquire the industry’s fourth largest company, Sun Microsystems, the American regulations commission was quick in approving the takeover. Starting in September, the European Commission went into anti-monopolistic studies, claiming that the deal could disturb the fairness of the database software industry.
However, the European Commission’s apposition waned when Oracle announced that it would sustain MySQL, a free, open source DB possessed by Sun. On December 14, 2009, Oracle stated that, should it ultimately acquire Sun Microsystems, it would prolong all licenses of MySQL by 5 years and not claim any intellectual property ownership over the said DB. Oracle also added that it would continue to support all corporate and private users and use $72 million in MySQL development over the course of 3 years. The sum is, in fact, much higher than what Sun has been investing in MySQL until now.
After the announcement, Neelie Kroes became more open to the deal, and the European Commission and Oracle had several meetings, finally reaching an agreement on January 21, 2010, just one week before the deadline of January 27. On this day, the Swiss Competition Comission also approved Oracle’s acquisition.
In its official statement, the European Commission noted that another open source DB, called PostgreSQL, will be able to play the role of competitor to MySQL. It also revealed its interest in seeing Oracle’s commitment to multiyear investment in MySQL, as this will sustain fair competition between MySQL and PostgreSQL. However, whether or not the European Commission will be able to oversee Oracle’s promise is unclear.
With the approval in hand, Oracle announced that it will host a live event for customers, partners, press, and analysts on January 27, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT, at its headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, along with executives from Oracle and Sun, will outline the strategy for the combined companies, product roadmaps, and how customers will benefit from having all components engineered to work together. The event will be broadcast globally.
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