Oracle May Spend $5 Billion for Micros Systems, Report Says

Oracle reportedly is in the process of finalizing a deal to buy hospitality technology vendor Micros Systems for $5 billion, the latest move by the enterprise software giant to build out its cloud computing capabilities.

Oracle and Micros are negotiating exclusively, though the deal could still fall through, according to anonymous sources quoted by Bloomberg in a report June 17.

The deal—which would be the largest since Oracle bought Sun Microsystems for more than $7 billion in 2010, would help Oracle as it looks to better compete in the cloud with the likes of Salesforce.com, SAP and Workday. It also follows CEO Larry Ellison’s pattern of gaining a lot of Oracle’s technologies via acquisitions; Bloomberg noted that the company has spent $50 billion over the last decade buying 100 companies, about 20 of which were specialists in particular industries.

Oracle has been criticized for being late to the cloud, and the company has been aggressive in recent months in acquiring vendors that can help it build out its lineup of offerings. Most recently, in December 2013, Oracle officials announced the company planned to spend $1.5 billion for Reponsys, a move designed to bolster the company’s strength in the business-to-consumer market.

That was followed in February by Oracle’s acquisition of startup BlueKai to help boost its marketing platform.

In Micros, Oracle would be getting a vendor with significant ties to the hospitality and retail industries. Maryland-based Micros offers a range of hardware, software and services that can be deployed on-premises, via mobile devices or in the cloud. According to the company, its products are used in more than 567,000 businesses—such as casinos, hotels, retail and convenience stores, cruise lines and travel agencies—in more than 180 countries.

The products include applications such as point-of-sale, property management, central systems, business intelligence, e-commerce, distributed order management and labor management, according to the company.

Oracle already has a working relationship with Micros, which has used Oracle software for its application suite for hotels. In its most recent quarterly financial statements, Micros, which has more than 6,400 employees, generated $349 million in revenue, a 10.7 percent increase over the same period in 2013.

Oracle declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.