Oracle letter puts pressure on PeopleSoft

Oracle has requested a meeting with the board of PeopleSoft, insisting that its $5.1bn acquisition offer is serious and fully funded.

In a letter to Craig Conway, PeopleSoft's chief executive, Oracle's chairman and chief executive Larry Ellison said that he wanted to meet with PeopleSoft's board to further discuss Oracle's offer.

"We believe that our offer provides full and fair value to PeopleSoft stockholders and a compelling future for PeopleSoft customers," he said.

Ellison added that PeopleSoft's public comments, and a notice he has received of the company's intention to commence litigation against Oracle, "raise the concern that you have taken a negative position with respect to the merits and motivations behind our offer before you and the PeopleSoft board have taken the time required to consider the offer".

"We have made a serious, fully financed, all-cash offer to your stockholders, and your fiduciary duties to those stockholders require a full and fair review done in good faith," Ellison's letter continued.

"This matter will ultimately be decided by the PeopleSoft stockholders based on the merits, and not by frivolous litigation."

Conway has previously described Oracle's offer as "atrociously bad behaviour from a company with a history of atrociously bad behaviour".

He said that it was a "transparent" attempt to disrupt PeopleSoft's acquisition of JD Edwards.