To nobody’s surprise, T. Rowe Price, the second-largest shareholder in NetSuite with 18% stake — behind only Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s 41% — is asking for Oracle to raise its $109 a share acquisition bid.
NetSuite shareholders, including T. Rowe Price, began grumbling about the $9.3 billion offer Oracle originally made almost as soon as it was tendered. Recently however, the investment firm has suggested a specific number it thinks is more appropriate — $133 per share — based on what it describes as synergies between the two cloud providers that weren’t factored into the initial offering price. If Oracle agrees to the proposed increase, it would value NetSuite at approximately $11.35 billion.
The letter suggesting the new price for NetSuite arrived in the wake of the “final extension of tender offer” missive Oracle forwarded on Oct. 7. Oracle gave unaffiliated shareholders — the owners of the approximately 50% of shares not owned by Ellison or NetSuite insiders — until midnight Eastern Time on Nov. 4 to agree to the deal. The deal must win the approval of holders of a majority of those unaffiliated shares to move forward.
With the deadline looming, Oracle is up against the wall somewhat, in that T. Rowe Price isn’t simply asking for a higher price tag; it has said will not tender its NetSuite shares unless Ellison and team comply.
Oracle has yet to publicly respond to the bid suggestion. However, with its self-imposed deadline quickly approaching, it appears Oracle will need to be the one to budge, or the NetSuite deal will come to an unceremonious end.
Author: Investopedia
