8 Companies Owned by Oracle

By
David Gorton
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David Gorton, CPA, has 5+ years of professional experience in accounting. He teaches accounting, helping promote financial education and awareness.
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Updated September 29, 2022
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Khadija Khartit
Khadija Khartit
Reviewed by Khadija Khartit
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Khadija Khartit is a strategy, investment, and funding expert, and an educator of fintech and strategic finance in top universities. She has been an investor, entrepreneur, and advisor for more than 25 years. She is a FINRA Series 7, 63, and 66 license holder.
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The acquisitions of Cerner, FarApp, Federos, and GloriaFood in 2021 by Oracle Corporation (ORCL) are just a few examples of Oracle’s reach in the technology market. Acquisitions like this have helped develop Oracle in a multitude of ways, including application development, industry solutions, middleware, server expansion, storage capabilities, and network development.

Oracle has spent a significant amount of money on its acquisitions but its most expensive has been its purchase of PeopleSoft for $10.3 billion in 2005; however, Oracle's announcement in late 2021 of its acquisition of Cerner, if it goes through, will be its most expensive at $28.3 billion.

Due to the numerous products, services, and industries Oracle caters to, it is no surprise that there are a substantial number of important subsidiaries and integrated companies that result in Oracle having the second-highest gross revenue across all software companies.

Key Takeaways

  • Oracle is known as a global leader in enterprise software and IT solutions; it is the second-largest software company in the world by revenue.
  • Oracle's cloud computing and database packages are well-known throughout the industry, but the company also has relied on an aggressive acquisition strategy to bolster its portfolio.
  • Included under the Oracle banner are BEA Systems, Hyperion, Siebel Systems, and Sun Microsystems, among several others.
  • Oracle's largest acquisition was of PeopleSoft in 2005 for $10.3 billion but will be eclipsed by its acquisition of Cerner for $28.3 billion in 2021 if the deal goes through.

1. Acme Packet

Acme Packet produced session border controllers, security gateways, and session-routing proxies. It allowed secure and reliable communications across devices, regardless of network. Oracle entered into an agreement to acquire Acme Packet in 2013 for $2.1 billion. At the time of the acquisition, Acme Packet’s solutions were utilized by almost 90% of the world’s top 100 communications companies. Acme Packet was founded in 2000 and was headquartered out of Bedford, Massachusetts.

2. BEA Systems

Oracle acquired BEA Systems in 2008 for $8.5 billion. The acquisition was made to bolster Oracle’s Fusion middleware software suite. Founded in 1995, the three founders of BEA were all former employees of Sun Microsystems. BEA Systems’ three major product lines were a transaction-oriented middleware platform called Tuxedo, an enterprise infrastructure platform, and a service-oriented architecture platform. All three products are utilized today, including the development of the Oracle Weblogic Server and Oracle Service Bus.

3. Hyperion Corporation

Hyperion Corporation, a provider of performance management software, was acquired by Oracle in 2007 for $3.3 billion. It offered enterprise resource planning solutions, financial modules, and reporting products. The combination of the two companies resulted in the creation of the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

4. MICROS Systems

In September 2014, Oracle completed the acquisition of MICROS Systems Inc. Previously headquartered in Maryland, MICROS provided enterprise applications to restaurants, hotels, casinos, and other entertainment businesses. The $5.3 billion deal to acquire MICROS enabled Oracle to expand its Retail and Hospitality Hardware and Software division. At the time of acquisition, MICROS technologies were used by over 330,000 customers in 180 countries.

5. NetSuite

Oracle’s 2016 acquisition of NetSuite expanded Oracle’s operations in cloud services. NetSuite was the first cloud company and was founded in 1998. NetSuite provided customers with a suite of software services to manage business operations and customer relationships. NetSuite provided products to over 40,000 companies in 100 countries. NetSuite was one of the biggest acquisitions ever made by Oracle, costing the company $9.3 billion, and giving their library of software a huge boost. 

One of Oracle's most important and successful products is Java, which it acquired through its purchase of Sun Microsystems.

6. PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft provided numerous financial and business applications to address a range of business requirements. Oracle’s hostile takeover of PeopleSoft in 2005 cost $10.3 billion. Modules created by PeopleSoft included Human Capital Management, Financial Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Enterprise Service Automation, Supply Chain Management, and PeopleTools.

7. Siebel Systems

Siebel Systems specialized in customer relationship management solutions. After paying $5.85 billion in 2005, Oracle acquired its main competitor in the sales automation program industry. Siebel’s customer relationship manager provided solutions to more than 20 industries and was integrated into Oracle’s Customer Experience portfolio. Founder Thomas Siebel was an Oracle executive from 1984 to 1990 before founding Siebel Systems in 1993. Siebel itself now operates as a product under the Oracle branding.

8. Sun Microsystems

Founded in 1982, Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle in 2010 for $7.4 billion and was utilized in the production of Oracle Optimized Systems. Sun Microsystems helped develop a high-performance infrastructure for the Oracle Database, as well as the first Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud. Sun Microsystems’ personal portfolio of software developments has expanded under Oracle with the releases of Oracle Solaris, MySQL, and Java.

How Many Acquisitions Has Oracle Made?

In its lifetime, Oracle has made 144 acquisitions, as of March 2022. The acquisitions have been both large and small and have allowed Oracle to expand its presence in a variety of fields.

Who Did Oracle Recently Buy?

Oracle's most recent acquisition, which is still pending, is that of Cerner in December 2021, for $28.3 billion ($95 a share). This acquisition will put Oracle in the IT healthcare space; a new frontier for the company.

Does Oracle Make Hardware?

Yes, Oracle makes hardware. Its hardware products include servers, storage, and engineered systems, with the goal of optimizing database performance at lower costs.

Article Sources
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