$9.3B Oracle-NetSuite Merger in Jeopardy

Oracle is putting a final, no-kidding deadline on its $9.3 billion offer to acquire NetSuite, following opposition by T. Rowe Price.

In a statement Friday, Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) extended the deadline on its acquisition offer to Nov. 4 -- the final extension, Oracle says.

Oracle's announcement follows a letter opposing the merger filed a month ago by T. Rowe Price Associates, the largest unaffiliated shareholders of NetSuite. The letter, filed by NetSuite to regulators Sept. 7, states that T. Rowe Price believes NetSuite has strong growth potential, and that Oracle has "inherent conflicts of interest" with NetSuite.

Oracle said in July it entered into a "definitive agreement" to acquire NetSuite, which provides a cloud suite of software for managing business operations and customer relations, for $9.3 billion. Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison was an early investor in NetSuite and owned 39.7% of outstanding shares immediately prior to the announcement. (See our article, "Oracle Acquires NetSuite for $9.3B to Boost Cloud Apps" and Oracle's July statement, "Oracle Acquires NetSuite for $9.3B in Cloud Push.")

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— Mitch Wagner, , Editor, Light Reading Enterprise Cloud