Reuters - Oracle to buy Sun Micro, enters hardware market

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Oracle to buy Sun Micro, enters hardware market

Monday, Apr 20, 2009 3:26PM UTC

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp plans to enter the computer hardware market by buying Sun Microsystems Inc for more than $7 billion, swooping in after Sun's talks with IBM fell apart.

The announcement on Monday surprised many Oracle watchers, who believed the company can boost profitability at Sun's software businesses but were unsure if it can be as successful with Sun's hardware unit amid stiff competition against IBM, Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc and new entrant Cisco Systems Inc.

"It's an out-of-the-box, left-field type of a deal because Oracle is buying a predominantly hardware business," said Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan. "The push-pull of the deal is the uncertainty of the hardware business with the earnings accretion of the software business."

Oracle will pay $9.50 a share for Sun, which values the high-end server and software maker at about $7.06 billion, based on 743 million shares outstanding as of the end of its second fiscal quarter on December 28, according to Sun.

Sun had previously rejected IBM's offer to pay up to $9.40 a share, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

Shares of Sun jumped 35.7 percent to $9.08 in morning Nasdaq trading, while Oracle shares fell 3.7 percent to $18.36. Shares of IBM, which did not immediately return calls for comment, fell 1.8 percent to $99.49 on the NYSE.

Oracle President Safra Catz said on a conference call that Oracle intends to make the hardware division profitable. Sun's top-selling products are high-end servers and storage equipment.

Catz said the acquisition, which the companies expect to close this summer, will add at least 15 cents per share to earnings in the first full year after closing.

It will be more profitable on a per share basis in the first year than Oracle had planned for its previous purchases of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined, Catz said.

LONG FRIENDS

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and Sun Chairman Scott McNealy are two Silicon Valley pioneers who have become close friends over the years as their businesses worked together to take on rivals including Microsoft Corp and IBM.

Oracle and Sun have been partners for more than 20 years: Oracle's database and related software already operate tightly with Sun's Java software and Solaris operating system.

"The deal would strengthen Oracle's position against IBM. Oracle has done a good job on acquisitions it has done earlier," said Robert Jakobsen, analyst at Jyske Bank in Copenhagen. "It makes sense also historically. Oracle has been more successful commercializing software than Sun."

Sun would add more than $1.5 billion to Oracle's operating profit in the first year, rising to more than $2 billion in the second year, Oracle said.

Sun rose to prominence in the 1990s but never fully recovered from the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s, when demand for its high-end servers cratered.

The company has been looking for a buyer for months, according to bankers, with IBM, Oracle, HP, Dell and Cisco having all been cited as possible buyers.

Analysts have said the sale of Sun could signal a new wave of mergers and partnerships in the data center market as companies strive to provide more comprehensive services that tie hardware and software offerings together.

"It moves Oracle more into the competition with HP and IBM and Microsoft. It makes them a player in the space," said Shannon Cross of Cross Research. "It gets hardware, which should be interesting to see since Oracle doesn't make things. It's going to give them access to customers who weren't using the Oracle database."

Talks between Sun and Oracle began late on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The companies said the transaction is valued at $5.6 billion net of cash and debt. Sun's board had unanimously approved the deal, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

"It makes sense at a certain level, but the question is: How do you get the companies to fit together? We don't quite get that yet," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment of Solaris Asset Management, whose New York-based firm manages about $2 billion and holds shares in neither company.

(Additional reporting by Franklin Paul and Ritsuko Ando in New York, Tarmo Virki in Helsinki; Writing by Tiffany Wu; Editing by Derek Caney)

Working Resume.

Keith
Nation 724 Park Avenue, Uniondale, NY 11553, United
States

bombastic4000@gmail.com
• Cellular 5168358556

Shipping,
Warehousing and Transportation Professional

Profile

Shipping, warehousing and Transportation and entertainment
professional, five years experience in shipping, packageing,
transportation and storage of manufactured goods. Experienced team
leader, adept at discovering methods to cut costs and increase
productivity. Implemented method of producing labels with UPS
worldship 9.0 that decrease shipping expenses by 33%. Possession of
unique skill sets, a rounded education, remains abreast of
technological advances and developments in the industrial world
implementing proven tactics to successfully distribute and trade
product.

Selected
Achievements

• Identified an area where Company was overspending on the
issuance of package receipts. Merged packages of same project I.D.
and address onto one shipping receipt with UPS Worldship software.
Each instance of this practice saved an average of 30% on the cost of
shipping and significantly reduced time to prep packages for delivery
as well as creating and implementing useful labeling practices,
initiated process of placing product name and number both in address
and receipt number section of UPS worldship label to facilitate quick
distribution of packages in receiver/client's mailroom and for quick
and instant recognition of corresponding packages by having the
product name and number also on manufacturers shipping receipt
document.

•Successfully understood and implemented changes in evolving
language in shipping/business terminology billing language such as
Freight collect, Bill Third Party, Bill Shipper, Shipping Duty &
Tax, and Cost and Freight. Pro-actively resolving third party
shipper and client dispute with company name on shipping label by
correctly authoring the intended company name as per the client
followed by the intended company name as per the manufacturer and
using a universally accepted symbol to differentiate between the two
among all parties involved.

• 100% Timeliness in regards to ship by date, never been late
on a ship by date in five years of shipping and warehousing.

• Cutting the time it would take to validate an address on the
internet by going through old addresses in address database,
validating them, modifying them and creating a universally accepted
code that signifies to shipper that address has been previously
validated every time it is pulled from the system as a ship to, ship
from, and/or third party address.

• Key Liaison for many direct clients to manufacturer for
packing and shipping duties as with E & L printing.

• Driver for primary company clients on cross-town business
trips. Trusted to meet and chauffeur clients at Train Stations and
safely transport to office and back to train stations in a timely and
friendly manner as with Donna Allegra from Taylor and Ives.

• Distribution of Orders through diverse and complex shipping
clients as FedEx, UPS, Walsh Messenger on the same shipment of
multiple and or split packages to the same and or different
addresses.

• Identifying Key Locations in Warehouse for docking area where
pre packed packages can be stored in escrow and pulled for when an
order for said packages are received which aids in the rapid
execution of shipping/transportation tasks and makes good use of
company time as well as saves time.

• Dedicated team player, consistent attendance and punctual
attendance,

• Unique work history with a varied and specialized knowledge
in key areas of industry as in software and mobile applications, and
cost reducing and time saving practices.

• Adept at doubling up, taking on other roles of productivity
including janitorial clean up and garbage removal services during
company downsizing to reduce overall overhead, creating and
maintenance of a clean work environment to improve and boost company
morale.

• Processed and associated Mercedes Benz business cards from
one lot of 500 card up to 200 plus lots of 1000 business cards with
appropriate drop ship numbers and shipping them with one hundred
percent accuracy in regards to billing, labeling and address
properties as the client contract implies.

• Utilizing N Vidia Control Panel (N-Vidia Quadro NVS 290
graphics card) on an Intel (r) core duo 2.40 Ghz CPU PC to organize
and speedup workflow when validate ting addresses with UPS worldship.

• Timely and accurate ID of FedEx and UPS account numbers.

.

Employment
History

Mutual Engraving, West Hempstead, New York

Shipping and Warehousing Professional, 2006 - Present

Ritetrack Company, Hempstead, New York

C.O.O., 2005 - Present

Target Co, Westbury, New York

Backroom/Remodel team member, 2005 - 2006

Remove All Specialist, Uniondale, New York

Operations Manager, 2004 - 2005

Golden Sons, Queens New York

Kitchen Aid, 2001 - 2004

Calvary Tabernacle, Hempstead, New York

Church Aid, 1996 - 2000

Things Jamaican, Queens, New York

Kitchen Aid, 1999 - 2000

Education

A.A., Applied Science of Music, 2004

Nassau Community, Garden City

A well rounded education in supply and demand economics and the
cause and effect of inflation in the American economy, statistical
arithmetic with a keen understanding of the mean, median, the mode
and outliers and skewed charts, as well as the arts, and social
sciences.

Indiana Bible College, Indianapolis Indiana:

Traveled and spent time in another part of the country and got to
experience a varied section of the cultural landscape.

H.S., Regents, 1998

Uniondale High School, Uniondale, New York

Studied Journalism, advanced English course and honors science
classes.

Skills

• Service Improvement

• Operations Management

• Crisis Management

• Shipping

• Public Safety and Security

• Crew Training

• Operations Tracking

• Environmental Assessments

• Equipment Maintenance

• Web 2.0

• Mobile Internet

• Microsoft Office • Fruity Loops

• Project 5 2.5

• Google Applications: Blogger, Picasa, Maps mobile,
documents.

Licenses

New York State Driver's License, 2007 - 2010

NYSDMV, Hempstead, New York

Licensed to drive a motorcar and a vehicle classified as a small
truck.

Training

Stores Online Internet Workshop, /

Stores Online, Garden City, New York

A one-day workshop about the history of the internet, shipping
services, and web search implementation

Volunteer

The Looong Box, West Hempstead, New York

Video Producer

Produced promotional video of contest winner that was played
in the store.

Children's Cancer Society, Oceanside, New York

Musician

Lent musician services to Children's Cancer Society event
fundraiser.

Relevant
Experience

Worldship

• Able to navigate the language and billing parameters
of Worldship shipping label software.

• Creating methods of packing and shipping and shipping label
documentation for changes in existing accounts, new accounts,
processing client name change and billing changes due to M & A.

• Superiors and company clients directly seek my insight in
packing, labeling and billing of their accounts.

Safe Driver and Delivery messenger

• Prompt and Safe Messenger/Delivery driver

• Skilled at loading vehicles, transporting up to 2 tons of
payload.

• Varied experience in messenger and delivering . Experienced
and driving company clients, to small documents to 2-ton payloads,
safely and punctually.

Policy and Procedure Enforcement.

• Recognizing inconsistencies and inaccuracies in
receipts written by production staff and correcting them.

• Able to recognize and correct misspelling and inaccuracies in
significant account data which can lead to shipping fees if product
in shipped with those faults intact, and changing those mistakes
before product leaves the company and thus saving money on
operational costs daily.

• Commended on accuracy rating by superiors and company
shareholders/owners.