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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

EU Objects to Oracle, Sun Merger

By Kathryn Glass

FOXBusiness

The European Union announced its formal objection to Oracle Corp.’s (ORCL) proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) over anti-trust concerns Monday, prompting a response from Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle.

In a statement released Monday, Oracle argued that the merger is crucial for maintaining competition in the high-end server market, something to which the European Commission was concerned the merger would pose a threat.

The EU is concerned Oracle’s acquisition of Sun’s MySQL database software would prove detrimental to competition in the database market, a concern which Oracle said “reveals a profound misunderstanding of both database competition and open source dynamics.”

“It is well understood by those knowledgeable about open source software that because MySQL is open source, it cannot be controlled by anyone. That is the whole point of open source,” the company said in a statement.

The EU will make a final ruling on January 19; the US Department of Justice has already approved the deal. If the European Commission denies the merger, Oracle could appeal its decision, but the legal battle could take years, according to reports.

Shares of Oracle Corp. fell slightly, closing just three cents lower after Tuesday’s session at $21.80. Sun Microsystems closed at $8.15, down 9 cents or 1.09%.

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