Oracle now has all necessary approvals to complete its acquisition of Portal Software, it said Thursday
Last month, Oracle made a cash offer of approximately $220 million, or $4.90 per share, for Portal, which provides billing software for a variety of services
to communications companies. Oracle plans to integrate this software with its own ERP (enterprise resource planning) software,
along with elements of CRM (customer relationship management) from Siebel, another acquisition.
Aside from regulatory issues, the merger faced opposition from Berggruen Holdings North America, Portal's second largest shareholder
with a 9.1 percent stake.
"We calculate that Oracle’s offer is at least 50 percent lower than the average Enterprise Value to Sales multiple of the
universe of leading publicly traded communications software companies," said Joshua S. Horowitz, director of research for
Berggruen, in an April 18 letter to Portal President and Chief Executive Officer David LaBuda.
"In addition, the company’s $60 million cash balance and greater than $400 million in net operating loss tax carry-forwards
highlight Portal’s liquidity and ability to keep most of its future profits," Horowitz wrote. Oracle's release made no mention
of any outstanding shareholder issues. With less than a 10 percent stake, Berggruen's clout would be insufficient to block
the acquisition.
The deal is expected to close before the tender offer expires on May 22.
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