Computer technology giant Oracle today announced that it has agreed to acquire Eloqua, a publicly-listed company that provides cloud-based marketing automation and revenue performance management software, coughing up close to $871 million or $23.50 per share. That’s a 31.1% premium over Eloqua’s stock price at yesterday’s market close.
Here’s how Oracle pitches (also see the FAQ – PDF) the rationale for this rather sizeable end-of-year acquisition:
The combination of Oracle and Eloqua is expected to create a comprehensive Customer Experience Cloud offering to help companies transform the way they market, sell, support and serve their customers.
The combined offering is expected to enable organizations to provide a highly personalized and unified experience across channels, create brand loyalty through social and online interactions, grow revenue by driving more qualified leads to sales teams, and provide superior service at every touchpoint.
Oracle says it plans to integrate several of its key technology assets, such as Big Data and Business Intelligence, to deliver enhanced value to Eloqua’s products.
More than 1,200 organizations across a wide range of industries – including HP, Nuance, Comcast, LinkedIn, Box, Google and Adobe – and 100,000 global users are said to rely on Eloqua’s modern marketing cloud to automate complex marketing processes across multiple channels.
The marketing automation SaaS company was founded in Toronto, Canada in 1999 by Mark Organ, Steven Woods and Abe Wagner. It now has approximately 400 employees worldwide.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Until the deal closes, each company will continue to operate independently, and will operate its business as usual.
Top image credit:Scott Olson / Getty Images
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