LOS ANGELES (AFX) -- Oracle Corp. on Wednesday said it would pay about $220 million in cash to acquire Portal Software Inc., a maker of billing and revenue-management products for communications and media companies.
Oracle , which has led a wave of consolidation in the business software industry, said it would pay $4.90 for each shaers of Portal under a tender offer.
'We supply technology and applications to over 90% of communications companies worldwide today, and billing is a logical and complementary addition for those customers,' said Charles Phillips, Oracle's president.
Portal's shares shot up following news of the deal, the price of which implied a 17% premium over the stock's Tuesday close.
The shares climbed as high as $4.87, marking a 52-week high. Before Wednesday, they've ranged in price from $1.62 to $4.60 over the same interval.
Oracle's stock eased 3 cents to $13.81, toward the higher end of a range running from $11.25 to $14.51 over the past 52 weeks.
The latest deal pales in comparison to Oracle's earlier blockbuster acquisitions of smaller rivals PeopleSoft Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc., valued at about $11 billion and nearly $6 billion, respectively.
Company executives, including President and Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz, have indicated that such large purchases are mostly behind the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based firm.
Managers and staff of Cupertino, Calif.-based Portal will form within Oracle a unit to work on communications-related billing and revenue management, Oracle said. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.
© 2006 AFX News
