Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison said Wednesday the business software maker probably won't make another major acquisition for at least another year to give the company ample time to assemble all the pieces snapped up during a recent $18 billion shopping spree.
After that respite, Oracle will return to the takeover trail to realize Ellison's long-term goal of more than doubling the company's annual revenue to $30 billion, the CEO told reporters.
"I don't think that's an unreasonable target," Ellison said, if Oracle grows "through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth."
Wednesday's media session, following a speech at Oracle's annual trade show, marked the first time Ellison has met with reporters since announcing plans last week to buy a longtime rival, Siebel Systems Inc., for $5.85 billion.
That proposed marriage followed Oracle's $11.1 billion takeover late last year of another fierce competitor, PeopleSoft Inc. In other acquisitions completed this year, Oracle has bought Retek Inc. for $665 million and an assortment of smaller software makers for undisclosed amounts.
Although he refused to identify other takeover targets remaining on his wish list, Ellison revealed that he is no longer interested in buying BEA Systems Inc., a San Jose-based business software maker with just over $1 billion in annual sales and a market value of about $3.5 billion.
"BEA was very high on our list, but they are less interesting to us than they used to be," Ellison said.
Ellison engineered Oracle's expansion to increase its market share in business applications software — products that automate a wide range of administrative tasks. A dominant force in database software for the past two decades, Redwood Shores-based Oracle now wants to supplant Germany's SAP AG as the world's largest maker of business applications software.
Although SAP and Oracle appear well entrenched as the industry leaders, Ellison expects both companies to face stiffer competition.
"I think the applications space will be diverse and complex five years from now," Ellison said during his speech. He predicted Microsoft Corp. and two rapidly growing online software makers, Salesforce.com Inc. and NetSuite Inc., are poised to become "serious players."
Ellison made his remarks about the industry's competitive landscape as Oracle gears up for an antitrust review of its Siebel deal. The company needs regulators in both the United States and Europe to conclude the takeover wouldn't diminish competition to ensure the acquisition is completed in early 2006.
The U.S. Justice Department tried to block last year's PeopleSoft takeover, but lost the battle in a monthlong trial after Oracle persuaded a federal judge that it would continue to face robust competition from many rivals, including Microsoft and Siebel.
Most industry analysts think it's unlikely U.S. regulators will challenge the Siebel deal, given Oracle's antitrust victory last year. Oracle executives, though, have predicted regulators will take a hard look at the deal before ultimately approving the transaction.
Ellison, one of the world's wealthiest men, also may have had a financial incentive for flattering San Francisco-based Salesforce.com and San Mateo-based NetSuite. He owns stakes in both companies.
