Oracle to Purchase Acme Packet

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Oracle has announced that it plans to purchase network equipment maker Acme Packet in a deal worth $2.1 billion. Acme’s products help deliver voice, video and data securely over the Internet.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Lisa Rapaport and Nick Turner reported, “Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the second-largest maker of business applications, agreed to acquire Acme Packet Inc. (APKT) for $2.1 billion, gaining technology that helps corporations securely transmit information over the Internet. Oracle will pay $29.25 a share in cash, according to a statement today. That marks a 22 percent premium over Acme’s stock price on Feb. 1, the last trading day before the deal was announced. Excluding Acme’s cash, Oracle is paying $1.7 billion.”

Michael J. De La Merced with The New York Times noted, “Buying Acme Packet, which is based in Bedford, Mass., is intended to give Oracle tools that allow companies to send data securely across the Internet. Acme Packet’s Net-Net products allow customers to use data, voice and video applications across a variety of connections. ‘The addition of Acme Packet to Oracle’s leading communications portfolio will enable service providers and enterprises to deliver innovative solutions that will change the way we interact, conduct commerce, deliver health care, secure our homes and much more,’ Mark V. Hurd, Oracle’s president, said in a statement.”

Computerworld’s Chris Kanaracus and Peter Sayer explained, “Carriers and enterprises use Acme’s products to manage the quality of voice, video, application or unified communications sessions across all-IP networks. Oracle intends to integrate Acme’s offering with its own communications product portfolio, alongside other core network products such as its network application platform and tools to manage service availability. The move will enable it to help service providers monetize their IP networks, Oracle said. That’s a matter of perpetual concern for network operators concerned that they will become nothing but a commodity ‘bit pipe’ as application providers reap all the profits.”

Sayantani Ghosh with Reuters observed, “The deal is Oracle’s biggest since it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010 for about $7 billion. The company bought nearly a dozen companies in 2012, including Eloqua Inc for $810 million in December.”