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Oracle Moves on Plan to Pack PeopleSoft's Board

Oracle Moves on Plan to Pack PeopleSoft's Board
By Maureen O'Gara
Article Rating:
January 30, 2004 12:00 AM EST
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 16,454
Amid the buzz that the Justice Department is going to put the kibosh on Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft, Oracle, which has been promising such a move, has sent PeopleSoft a notice that it intends to continue to pursue its reluctant quarry and nominate five people to the PeopleSoft board in an attempt to get control of the company.

It said it's going to introduce a stockholder proposal to expand the PeopleSoft board to nine if PeopleSoft director Michael Maples isn't put up for election. Maples was never elected by PeopleSoft's stockholders. PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway comes up for re-election.

The pundits are predicting a bitter, not to say entertaining, fight akin to what went on at Hewlett-Packard because of Compaq if the combatants get that far. What Oracle does about its $19.50-a-share offer remains to be seen, especially with PeopleSoft stock selling for $23 these days.

In retort, PeopleSoft issued a statement last Saturday saying, "We believe that Larry Ellison's attempt to gain control of PeopleSoft's board of directors is solely to advance Oracle's agenda and is not in the best interests of PeopleSoft's stockholders. We strongly believe that Ellison's handpicked, paid nominees are biased and would have irreconcilable conflicts of interest if elected to PeopleSoft's board. Each nominee is receiving cash compensation and has signed an agreement with Oracle. We believe their ability to be independent is seriously compromised."

Oracle's slate includes UCLA economist Dr. Duke Bristow, who chairs the Annual Corporate Governance Conference, Venture Capital Tech LLC president Richard Clemmer, former Keycorp chief administrative officer Roger Noall, Laurel Crown Capital LLC managing principal Dr Laurence Paul and Kellogg Graduate School of Management Alan E Peterson Distributed Professor of Finance Dr. Artur Raviv.

Published January 30, 2004 – Reads 16,454
Copyright © 2004 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
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More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025.

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