Oracle to Acquire Hyperion for $3.3 B

Elena
01 Mar, 2007
New York City

Software provider Oracle Corp. reportedly agreed to acquire the producer of business-intelligence software Hyperion Solutions Corp. in a deal worth $3.3 billion, or $52 a share. The offer price represents 21% premium over Hyperion''s closing price Wednesday of $42.84. deal is expected to close in April 2007.

[R]8:00 AM Oracle agreed to acquire rival Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion.[/R]
Software provider Oracle Corp. ((ORCL)) reportedly agreed to acquire the producer of business-intelligence software Hyperion Solutions Corp. ((HYSL)) in a deal worth $3.3 billion, or $52 a share. The offer price represents 21% premium over Hyperion''s closing price Wednesday of $42.84. The acquisition would be the latest in a two-year spree that Oracle has executed, with CEO Larry Ellison spending some $20 billion to ensure a steady stream of new revenue. Oracle expects that the deal will add one cent a share to fiscal 2008 earnings on an adjusted basis, and four cents a share to fiscal 2009 earnings. The deal is expected to close in April 2007. In pre-market trading, Hyperion shares traded at $51.50.


[R]6:30AM Europe rebounds Thursday as financial stocks gain ground.[/R]
European markets were modestly higher on Thursday. Frankfurt Xetra Dax was up 0.5% to 6,747.46, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.5% higher at 5,542.31 and London FTSE climbed 0.8% to 6,222.7.

Advancers

Swiss Re advanced 4.5% after the reinsurer reported full-year net profit increased twice on lower claims and the acquisition of the reinsurance division of General Electric. Munich Re, whose in-line results were overlooked in the sell-off the previous session, gained 0.8% after a price target upgrade by Lehman Brothers.

A number of emerging markets mounted rallies, helping lift the financial stocks with the most exposure to them. Raiffeisen International and Erste Bank, the Austrian rivals, both of which have operations across central and eastern Europe, gained 3.6% and 3.4% respectively.

Recent pledges on renewable energy sources helped lift producers of solar energy equipment. Renewable Energy Corp, the Norwegian maker of solar panels, gained 4.4%, while German rival Q-Cells gained 2.8%. Acciona, the Spanish builder and investor in wind energy, gained 2.2%. Eon, the German group whose 41 billion euros bid for Endesa now looks to be in some doubt, edged 0.4% higher.

Decliners

Deutsche Telekom declined 2.3% after posting a 43% drop in full-year net profit and reducing forecasts for core earnings this year. The company announced it would help drive future growth through foreign acquisitions, possibly part funded by the sale of non-core European assets.

Oil and gold

Oil prices declined slightly Thursday as traders responded to gains a day earlier caused by a report showing dropping U.S. crude inventories. Crude oil for April delivery fell 11 cents to $61.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold opened Thursday at a bid price of $668.80 a troy ounce, down from $680.60 late Wednesday.

Currencies

The euro was stronger against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as some markets in parts of the world appeared to shake off a slump earlier this week. The euro bought $1.3233, compared with the $1.3216 it bought in New York late Wednesday. The British pound edged up Thursday to $1.9605 from $1.9594. The dollar rose to 118.39 Japanese yen from 118.12 yen.