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Oracle acquires BEA for $8.5 billion

Oracle gets bigger with BEA.

Matt Asay Contributing Writer
Matt Asay is a veteran technology columnist who has written for CNET, ReadWrite, and other tech media. Asay has also held a variety of executive roles with leading mobile and big data software companies.
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Matt Asay

Apparently, Larry Ellison didn't like the idea of anyone getting more than a few minutes of press for an acquisition. Following on the heels of Sun's acquisition of MySQL, Oracle is announcing that it is buying everyone else on the planet to prevent this from happening again.

No, actually, Oracle has announced that it is buying BEA Systems for $8.5 billion. The proprietary world just got even more consolidated with less choice and higher costs for buyers.

What to learn from Oracle's most recent acquisition? First, that when a target demands a higher premium, Oracle will pay one (24%)...just not as high as the prospect is demanding. Second, at some point in the not-too-distant future, there will be three or four enterprise vendors from which to buy (IBM, Oracle, Microsoft...Sun or SAP?).

Third, Oracle is a very persistent suitor. It lost out on JBoss but didn't hang its head for long. Oracle is a contender and a sharp competitor. No question.