Oracle to acquire MICROS Systems for $5.3 billion
Tech giant Oracle confirmed it will acquire software company MICROS Systems for $5.3 billion.
Founded in 1977, the Maryland-based company specializes in providing technology for the hospitality and retail industries, such as point-of-sale, ecommerce and management software.
"Oracle has successfully helped customers across multiple industries, harness the power of cloud, mobile, social, big data and the internet of things to transform their businesses," said Oracle President Mark Hurd in a statement. "We anticipate delivering compelling advantages to companies within the hospitality and retail industries with the acquisition of MICROS."
Shares of Oracle were up 0.5% to $41.05 in pre-market trading. MICROS Systems shares jumped 3% off the news.
"We expect to help accelerate our customers' ability to innovate and differentiate their businesses by utilizing Oracle's technologies, cloud solutions and scale," says Peter Altabef, president and CEO of MICROS, in a statement.
The acquisition is the biggest for Oracle since buying Sun Microsystems in 2010 for $7.4 billion. Last week, Oracle reported disappointing fourth quarter results, including $11.3 billion in revenue.
As with many tech companies, Oracle continues the transition toward cloud services. FBR analyst Daniel Ives says following last week's results, top executives "have some work ahead of themselves to morph Oracle into its next phase of growth around attacking the cloud."
Ives also says the MICROS deal might be the start of Oracle's acquisition plans. "It is clear to us that the company needs to quickly put more 'growth fuel in its engine' to catalyze growth in the top-line," he says.
The deal is expected to close during the second half of 2014.
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.