Oracle Bids for BEA Systems

Oracle is making a bid for BEA Systems valued at $6.7 billion, reports Reuters.

According to CNNMoney.com the bid was contained in a letter to BEA's board. Although Oracle released details of the offer Oracle said that this is not a hostile bid.

BEA products support functions such as transaction processing, billing, customer service, provisioning and securities trading, notes CNNMoney. In a statement, Oracle said that if the acquisition is successful then it would continue to support its customers and products for years to come.

The move is part of a general acquisition strategy that has seen Oracle acquire 30 companies over the past three years for $25 billion, notes Forbes. Last March, Oracle paid $3.3 billion for Hyperion, a competitor to Business Object acquired four days ago by Oracle rival, SAP.