Oracle-Sun Deal: Update
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EU may formally object to Oracle, Sun deal: report
By John Letzin
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The European Commission is close to issuing an official statement of objections to Oracle Corp.'s /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl (ORCL 20.89, -0.20, -0.95%) planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!java/quotes/nls/java (JAVA 8.35, +0.10, +1.21%) , according to a report published Tuesday. The Financial Times, citing an unnamed source, reported that Oracle has refused to offer any concessions to European antitrust regulators addressing their concerns about the deal. Even if a statement of objections is issued, Oracle could still have time to mount a legal challenge clearing the way for the merger, according to the report. European regulators requested additional information about the planned merger in September, and set a January deadline to decide on the matter.
originally posted here
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This is slightly disturbing news for us Sun employees. You can imagine how it is when you and your team are in the middle of an acquisition process: a general sense of insecurity, budget restrictions, no new hires or even reductions in force, etc. It feels like the entire company is in some kind of brain freeze while the competition is making important progress. Adding insult to injury, the European Union is now holding us hostage until the start of 2010 -- thank you very much Mrs Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition.
Important people in both corporations as well as outsiders have spoken and written about how this acquisition will be beneficial to both the hardware and software market. They have fomally presented their insights to Commissioner Kroes and offered their expertise to help settle the affair quickly. (Thank you very much Mr Mickos.) The US Department of Justice approved the acquisition in August; surely they must have considered the effect on other major players like IBM and HP. Is anyone else wondering why the EU thinks we could become a threat to fair competition?
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The European Commission is close to issuing an official statement of objections to Oracle Corp.'s /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl (ORCL 20.89, -0.20, -0.95%) planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!java/quotes/nls/java (JAVA 8.35, +0.10, +1.21%) , according to a report published Tuesday. The Financial Times, citing an unnamed source, reported that Oracle has refused to offer any concessions to European antitrust regulators addressing their concerns about the deal. Even if a statement of objections is issued, Oracle could still have time to mount a legal challenge clearing the way for the merger, according to the report. European regulators requested additional information about the planned merger in September, and set a January deadline to decide on the matter.