Oracle buys Hyperion
Oracle continued its manic acquiring campaign, this time by buying Hyperion Software for a surprising $3.3 billion. Hyperion Solutions specializes in the area of "business intelligence software." This software that allows execs to analyze to analyze data derived from the very databases that Oracle specializes in.
Here's the Wall Street Journal's take ("Oracle Extends Acquisitions Spree To Buy Hyperion for $3.3 Billion", 3/1/07) on Oracle's strategy:
Oracle used its large, early acquisitions to build itself into the No. 2 maker of applications for business tasks like finance and human resources, after German rival SAP AG. Now, Mr. Ellison is focusing on smaller acquisitions of companies that make software in hot areas like security, content management and business intelligence, while continuing to buy firms focused on specific industries.
A Financial Times article ("Oracle agrees to pay $3.3bn for Hyperion," 3/1/07) notes that "Analysts and industry executives predict that Oracle's latest move could trigger a consolidation phase in this sub-sector." The sector itself has so-far not been targeted by bigger companies. Among the other companies in this fast growing world are Cognos, Business Objects, and SAS. If only in self defense, Oracle competitors like SAP, IBM, and Microsoft will feel obliged to start working out a deal with one of the business intelligence software firms. As ever, M&A's generate more M&A's.
