Oracle stands firm on PeopleSoft bid

Oracle has fended off suggestions that its commitment to complete the hostile acquisition of PeopleSoft is waning.

In a conference call, Oracle executives cast further aspersions on PeopleSoft's performance, and said it has lined up its own candidates for next January's elections to the PeopleSoft management board.

Executives also attacked PeopleSoft's customer assurance programme, which guarantees that customers receive a rebate of between two and five times the value of their software licences if the takeover succeeds, or software support or development is discontinued.

The database giant said that accounting rules meant PeopleSoft should not include in its financial results software sales made as part of the customer assurance programme while its potential liabilities continue.

"It's puzzling to say PeopleSoft is doing well. We believe they have a revenue recognition problem," said Jeff Henley, Oracle's chief financial officer.

PeopleSoft's customer assurance programme has been credited with enabling the firm to prop-up its software sales under the shadow of Oracle's $7.3bn hostile bid.

In turn, this has impacted share prices, making Oracle's offer less attractive to investors.

But industry watchers are not so sure of Oracle's fortitude.

"Oracle has an advantage by leaving its offer on the table," said Andy Kellett, senior research analyst at Butler Group.

"The longer this goes on, the more uncertainty they can create around PeopleSoft. Any takeover raises issues. But this one doesn't seem to be the perfect fit."

PeopleSoft was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.