Oracle have bought Sun

Well, this was a bit unexpected – but they were one of the only other companies who could realistically make a move.

Oracle have purchased Sun, at $9.50 a share, in a deal valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt.

Larry Ellison has shown for years he has the determination and drive to push a company forward – either by crushing the opposition (a favourite term of a DBA friend) or by buying them out.

Owning the whole stack – from storage, through tin, up to software – plus services will give Oracle a huge amount of leverage and visibility. It’ll also mean they can take on IBM directly at pretty much every level.

Interesting times ahead.

You can read the Sun press release at http://www.sun.com/third-party/global/oracle/index.jsp

Update: Oracle have put up a nice page of FAQs and information at http://www.oracle.com/sun/index.html