By Ben Fox Rubin
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) agreed to buy fellow software company Eloqua
Inc. (ELOQ) for approximately $810 million, as Oracle continues to
bolster its cloud-based and market-analysis products.
Oracle offered $23.50 per Eloqua share, a 31% premium over
Wednesday's closing price. Eloqua's shares were initially halted
premarket, then jumped to $23.25. Oracle said the acquisition was
worth about $871 million, net of Eloqua's cash.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2013.
Eloqua, founded in 2000, had just gone public in August. The
company provides software that allows clients to measure the
effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts. The software includes
tools that allow clients to analyze interactions on Web pages and
social-media networks. Its customers include Adobe Systems Inc.
(ADBE), American Express Co. (AXP), and VMware Inc. (VMW).
"Eloqua's leading marketing automation cloud will become the
centerpiece of the Oracle Marketing Cloud and is an important
addition to the Oracle Customer Experience offering," said Thomas
Kurian, executive vice president of Oracle Product Development.
Eloqua has a history of losses and has warned it may not be
consistently profitable in the future.
Oracle's shares were down 0.3% premarket at $33.98.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@dowjones.com
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