Oracle finally to acquire BEA Systems

It’s an outcome that was widely predicted, including by this online journal. It puts to bed issues being felt at BEA due to competition from Oracle itself, as well as IBM and Microsoft and open source software – and it’s a significant fillip for Oracle. “The addition of BEA products and technology will significantly enhance and extend Oracle’s Fusion middleware software suite,” says Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. “Oracle Fusion middleware has an open hot-pluggable architecture that allows customers the option of coupling BEA’s WebLogic Java Server to virtually all the components of the Fusion software suite. That’s just one example of how customers can choose among Oracle and BEA middleware products, knowing that those products will gracefully interoperate and be supported for years to come.” Alluding to the former wrangling, Alfred Chuang, BEA’s Chairman and CEO says: “Over the past several months our board of directors … has reviewed various ways to maximise stockholder value, including engaging in discussions with third parties about a possible sale of the company. This transaction is the culmination of that diligent and thoughtful process.”