EC Digs Deeper into Oracle-PeopleSoft Fight

After a month-long inquiry, the European Commission Monday said it has ruled in favor of moving to a second phase analysis of Oracle's hostile $7.5 billion takeover attempt of rival PeopleSoft, which could take as much as four months to complete. The decision comes on the heels of statements made by Oracle's Executive Vice President Chuck Phillips, who last week said that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had told his Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company that it would take at least until January to conclude its inquiry into the matter. The EC said that its initial one-month investigation has shown that the combination of two of the largest competitors in the market merits further analysis because the number of key players would be reduced from three to Oracle and SAP in the applications software markets. The Commission also said it may investigate any potential effects in the relational database market, where Oracle (Quote, Chart) is strongest. PeopleSoft (Quote, Chart) spun the decision as a validation that the regulatory bodies are concerned about what could be possible anti-competitive actions by Oracle. "The European Commission's decision reflects what we believe is the Commission's concern about the anticompetitive impact of Oracle's unsolicited tender offer on the industry," PeopleSoft said in a statement. "In addition to the European Commission's review, Oracle's unsolicited tender offer continues to be the subject of ongoing reviews by the U.S. Department of Justice and a task force of state attorneys general." Oracle, too, applauded the EC's decision.