Regulators OK Oracle-BEA Merger

The U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have given their thumbs up to Oracle's proposed $8.5 billion acquisition of middleware vendor BEA.Next on tap: a special stockholder meeting on April 4 to vote on the merger, plus clearance from the European Commission. The deal won unanimous approval from BEA's board last month after being initially rejected in October.

"The addition of BEA products and technology will significantly enhance and extend Oracle's Fusion middleware software suite," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in a statement when the deal was first announced. The purchase will be Oracle's biggest since it acquired PeopleSoft in 2005.Bloomberg