Thumbs up for Oracle's $8.6b buy

SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle said the US Justice Department approved its proposed US$5.85 billion ($8.56 billion) acquisition of Siebel Systems, which will make the company the world's largest maker of customer-service software.

European regulators still need to approve the deal.

Oracle, the world's third largest software maker, agreed to acquire Siebel on September 12 for US$10.66 a share in cash or stock.

Chief executive Larry Ellison has spent more than US$18 billion this year to acquire software companies and expand sales of business-management and database programs. The US$10.6 billion takeover of PeopleSoft in January, which was opposed by the Justice Department, vaulted Oracle to No 2 in business management software behind SAP.

Last month, the Justice Department asked Oracle for more information about the deal. That led to speculation the government might challenge the Siebel purchase as well.

Customer-service software lets businesses keep track of interactions with clients: the status of accounts, what products they buy, contact information and call logs of their activities.

- BLOOMBERG