Oracle was forced to bid for PeopleSoft because it wants to drive consolidation in the market, and not just watch it from the sidelines, a senior Oracle executive has admitted.

Speaking at Oracle's AppsWorld conference in London, executive vice president Chuck Phillips insisted that the company was obliged to act once the PeopleSoft/JD Edwards deal was announced.

Phillips explained that Oracle had been considering a move for PeopleSoft for 12 months, but had held off while share prices were still falling.

"Once the JD Edwards deal was announced, we had to decide: do we want PeopleSoft or not? If we do, we have to move now," he said.

The maturing market for enterprise applications meant that consolidation was inevitable, according to Phillips. "We'd rather drive it than watch it," he stated.

Growing through acquisition marks a change of tactics for Oracle, which has previously sought to enlarge its customer base with an aggressive sales-driven approach.

Phillips would not be drawn on whether the acquisition trail would also include JD Edwards.

"As of right now, we think it's possible to buy PeopleSoft as a stand-alone. If the only option is to buy both together, we'd have to evaluate," he said.

Phillips, a former software analyst at investment bank Morgan Stanley, acknowledged that he had been brought into Oracle to drive further acquisitions.

Such purchases are likely, he said, although probably not on the size and scale of PeopleSoft.

As the only senior official able to make comments about the bid for PeopleSoft at the AppsWorld conference, Phillips was keen to play down customer fears raised over the bids.

He reiterated promises made by Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison that PeopleSoft customers would continue to receive support for their investments for at least the next decade.

Phillips also sought to play down the threat of anti-trust action.

PeopleSoft's board could use such a move as a defence tactic but, with SAP having such a large share of the enterprise applications market, it is unlikely to concern US regulators, he claimed.