Oracle wins regulatory approvals for US$28b Cerner takeover

ORACLE said it has received all regulatory clearances needed to complete its US$28.3 billion purchase of digital medical-records provider Cerner, paving a further expansion into health care for the software giant.

"Cerner and Oracle have the capability to transform health care delivery by providing medical professionals with a new generation of health care information systems," Larry Ellison, Oracle chairman and chief technology officer, said Wednesday (Jun 1) in a statement.

Oracle expects to close the deal on Jun 6 after the completion of its US$95-a-share tender offer to Cerner investors. Ellison is scheduled Jun 9 to discuss the acquisition and Oracle's cloud-based health services, the company said in the statement.

The acquisition, announced last December, will be "substantially accretive" to Oracle's earnings in fiscal year 2023, and a "growth engine for years to come", said Oracle chief executive officer Safra Catz.

Oracle, the second-biggest software maker by revenue, is best known for legacy database products. The company has struggled in recent years to gain ground in cloud computing, in which companies rent data storage and analytic power from large server centres, trailing far behind market leaders Amazon.com and Microsoft. The acquisition of Cerner gives Oracle a huge foothold in technology for the health care industry. BLOOMBERG