17 June 2003 Battling a hostile takeover bid by Oracle, PeopleSoft yesterday tried to fast-track its own agreed acquisition of fellow-business applications software vendor JD Edwards by agreeing to pay half of the $1.75 billion price in cash.

The move, on top of what was originally an all-stock offer, is designed to speed shareholders’ acceptance of the deal, and to convince customers that PeopleSoft has no intention of dropping its friendly bid for JD Edwards. But is also being viewed as a desparate attempt to persuade customers and prospects that they should continue with future purchases.

The development is likely to put pressure on Oracle to increase its offer of $5.1 billion for PeopleSoft which currently stands slightly below PeopleSoft’s market value.

PeopleSoft has been locked in a battle for survival ever since its 2 June offer for JD Edwards spurred an unsolicited bid from Oracle.

Meanwhile, the market leader in business applications software, SAP, will later this week launch a large-scale print advertising campaign design to persuade PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers to walk away from product uncertainties and into its arms.