Although Oracle Systems Corp’s operations look fine at the trading level, the balance sheet is still a cause for concern, and the Redwood Shores, California company has hit snags on the proposed deal that would inject $200m into the company in return for Nippon Steel Co taking a 49% stake in its Japanese operations. That deal was to have closed on August 30, but while both sides have successfully negotiated definitive documentation and got the necessary government approvals, negotiations relating to current or potential overlapping product directions have not yet been completed. At present, Nippon Steel’s principal computer interests are the Librex portable computers and Japanese representation of Concurrent Computer Corp, so the snag is presumably either an undisclosed plan by Nippon Steel to bail out Concurrent by taking control, or a deal with another hardware maker that would compromise Oracle’s much vaunted hardware-independence. Oracle has obtained a 30-day extension from its current banks on its $100m primary credit facilities but is having to negotiate an alternate $100m credit line in case the Steel deal has still not been completed by the end of this month.
