Oracle is to raise its hostile bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft to $8.8 billion, calling this its 'best and final' offer. Oracle is lifting its offer to $24 per share from a previous bid of $21.
Oracle said clearance for its bid from EU competition authorities last week had prompted the move, in the belief it would persuade PeopleSoft to drop its remaining obstacles to the deal.
The offer, perhaps the most bitter takeover battle in Silicon Valley history, will expire on November 19, Oracle said.
While PeopleSoft has staged a 17-month long defence, it has shown signs of cracking. On October 1, PeopleSoft dumped the chief executive leading its takeover defence, Craig Conway, and US regulators dropped their competition case against a merger of the two firms.
