Oracle Extends PeopleSoft Offer

Oracle still wants PeopleSoft.

On the heels of its filing claiming that the Department of Justice failed to prove that its buyout of PeopleSoft Inc. will reduce competition in the business software market, Oracle reaffirmed its intent to take over its competitor. The company said it has extended its previously announced tender offer of $21 per share for all of PeopleSoft's common stock through Aug. 27. The offer was previously set to expire on July 16. The value of the proposed deal still stands at about $7.7 billion.

In the filing on Friday, Oracle challenged the product and geographic market definitions on which the Justice Department has based its antitrust case. In its own filing last week, the government maintained that an Oracle takeover of PeopleSoft would violate antitrust law.

Closing arguments in the case are set for July 20 with a ruling expected in August or September.