Oracle announced this morning that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Sun Microsystems, on the heels of a breakdown of a proposed acquisition by IBM. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt.
"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," says Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. "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 also says there are substantial long-term strategic customer advantages to owning two key Sun software assets: Java and Solaris. Java is one of the computer industry's best-known brands and most widely deployed technologies, and it is the most important software Oracle has ever acquired. Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle's fastest growing business, is built on top of Sun's Java language and software. Oracle can now ensure continued innovation and investment in Java technology for the benefit of customers and the Java community.
The Sun Solaris operating system is the leading platform for the Oracle database, Oracle's largest business, and has been for a long time. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle can optimize the Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris. Oracle is as committed as ever to Linux and other open platforms and will continue to support and enhance our strong industry partnerships.
"Sun is a pioneer in enterprise computing, and this combination recognizes the innovation and customer success the company has achieved. Our largest customers have been asking us to step up to a broader role to reduce complexity, risk and cost by delivering a highly optimized stack based on standards," notes Oracle president Charles Phillips. "This transaction will preserve and enhance investments made by our customers, while we continue to work with our partners to provide customers with choice."
The board of directors of Sun Microsystems has unanimously approved the transaction. It is anticipated to close this summer, subject to Sun stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Until the deal closes, each company will continue to operate independently, according to a statement from Oracle.
For more information on Oracle, go here. For more information on Sun, go here.