So PeopleSoft finally folded and succumbed to the Larry Ellison juggernaut. The immediate question I would have for PeopleSoft is this: was it really worth continuing to fight the bid since February, which was when Oracle upped its offer to $26 per share? You’ve settled for $26.50 per share anyway, and the legal wrangling, diversion of management attention and customer uncertainty have all cost you dear. You have made slightly more than $26 per share, but it could just as easily be argued that embracing the deal at an earlier stage – while still arguing the corner for the best price possible of course – would have served both companies better in the long run. A lot of dirty laundry has been aired over the course of the negotiations, and customers and prospects are unlikely to forget that, particularly as they ponder the unfolding roadmap for the combined Oracle-PeopleSoft applications suite.
