Oracle's 2008 Acquisitions

In 2008, Oracle made 11 acquisitions. They had cash, and they weren't afraid to use it. Here is the list of companies they bought throughout the year...

• January 2008
  • BEA
  • Captovation
• March 2008
  • Empirix
• May 2008
  • AdminServer
• June 2008
  • Skywire Software
• July 2008
  • Global Knowledge Software (GKS)
• September 2008
  • ClearApp
• October 2008
  • Primavera
  • Haley
  • Advanced Visual Technology (AVT)
• November 2008
  • Tacit Software

Without getting into the details of each company, what I think is most fascinating is the timing of the transactions. The crisis in the commercial credit markets really started to come to the forefront in July 2008. Since then, the company completed nearly half of its acquisitions, including one during November when the stock market was at its nadir for the year. To go even further, Oracle just completed an acquisition of mValent, a provider of configuration management software.

I suspect that Oracle will continue to pursue acquisitions aggressively. It's the old adage: "Buy low, sell high." With valuations as low as they've been in decades, companies with cash will find be able to expand into new markets rapidly. These investments will drain their cash for some time, of course. But when the market recovers, Oracle will be well-positioned with a diversified revenue stream.

What do you think??

Oracle's Acquisition Page: Strategic Acquisitions
Oracle, Inc: ORCL (NASDAQ)