The whole issue about oracle’s acquisition plans about the future started when one of the co-presidents of the software giant Charles Philips commented on the plans of the company to double up the amount the company might spend on acquiring companies in the next five years. This Thursday at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2010 conference in Aspen, Colorado, he said that Oracle will spend double the amount in acquisitions as compared to the past five years that will be $70 billion.
But Friday saw the company clearly declining any such plans. In a day the company had seemingly changed its mind on acquisition. The company strongly denied comments made by co-President Charles Phillips the conference on Thursday just a day before. The company now said that contrary to Phillips’ suggestion, it is “highly unlikely” that it will spend roughly US$70 billion buying up companies during the next five years.
The company’s statement came from the spokeswoman Karen Tillman for the company “Oracle does not have a five year acquisition budget, We don’t even have a one year acquisition budget. While it is highly unlikely that we will spend anything approaching $70 billion in five years, we will be opportunistic and, if market conditions warrant, we will buy additional companies that further our strategic goals and address our customers’ needs,”
The statement on Thursday was made when the interviewer had asked the co-president to repeat his statement to which he further added that the company had spent $35 billion in the last five years in acquiring other small business. He further specified the areas in which the company will be consolidating its position in the future. He listed the areas as hardware, content, and vertical markets. Vertical markets have still to be clarified by the company.
Oracle has bought more than 60 companies in just the past five years. They notable companies that have joined the Oracle’s team are Business intelligence Provider Hyperion for $3.3 billion in 2007 ,middleware maker BEA for $8.5 billion in 2008, and the takeover of sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion earlier this year