PeopleSoft fires feisty CEO in surprise move

Business maker PeopleSoft Inc unexpectedly fired CEO Craig Conway, dumping the feisty leader who engineered the company's dogged resistance to Oracle Corp's US$7.7 billion takeover bid during a 16-month saga.

Just few hours after PeopleSoft disclosed Conway's ouster, the US Justice Department said on Friday that it won't appeal a court decision removing an antitrust hurdle to Oracle's offer.

Taken the news convinced many analysts that People-Soft is clearing the decks for an Oracle takeover.

"This thing is over," said analyst David Hilal of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. "PeopleSoft is going to be sold. The only question is timing and price."

Investors betting Oracle will sweeten its all-cash offer of US$21 per share. Redwood Shores-based Oracle has offered as much as US$26 per share for Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft.

PeopleSoft's surged US$2.89, more than 14 percent, to US$22.74 during Friday's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Oracle's shares climbed US$0.51, or 4.5 percent, to US$11.79.

Oracle it was pleased that the antitrust case won't be appealed. The company declined to comment on Conway's firing.

PeopleSoft's replaced Conway with its chairman and founder David Duffield, who is also the largest shareholder. The board appointed chief financial officer Kevin Parker and Phil Wilmington, the company's top sales executive, as co-presidents.

PeopleSoft's dumped Conway in a meeting late Thursday night, Skip Battle, a company director, told analysts during a Friday conference call.

"Over time, the board has become increasingly concerned with Craig's leadership," Battle said. "There is no smoking gun. It was a matter of the board losing confidence in Craig and when that happens a decision has to be made."

PeopleSoft Conway's firing along with a pleasant surprise -- sales of new software licenses for the just-completed third quarter exceeded US$150 million, much higher than analysts anticipated.

Hilal it makes no sense to jettison Conway after such a strong quarter unless the board wanted to ease the tensions with Oracle.

Battle Conway's firing had nothing to do with PeopleSoft's attitude toward Oracle's bid.

Hired years ago to replace Duffield as CEO, Conway had been staunchly fighting to keep PeopleSoft out of Oracle's clutches.

Almost soon as the company launched its hostile takeover attempt, Conway dug in his heels, describing the bid as "atrociously bad behavior" while lambasting Oracle CEO Larry Ellison as a sociopath.

Conway worked under Ellison at Oracle, a dynamic that spiced the soap opera that has riveted Silicon Valley.

Ellison made it clear he couldn't wait to fire Conway in an Oracle takeover.

With Conway's job looking shaky, PeopleSoft's board improved his severance package eight months ago. The deal, which awards Conway two times his salary and vests millions of stock options, could be worth US$50 million to US$60 million if PeopleSoft is sold to Oracle.

Oracle's received a major boost three weeks ago when a federal judge rejected an attempt to block the proposed deal for competitive reasons. That prompted many shareholders to begin pressuring PeopleSoft to open talks with Oracle, but Conway had held out hope the Justice Department might appeal -- an option that evaporated on Friday.

With Conway gone and the company coming off a surprisingly strong quarter, "many shareholders seem to believe PeopleSoft's board will now have the leverage to get a higher price," said American Technology Research analyst Donovan Gow.

But Gow still suspects Duffield, who founded PeopleSoft in 1987, might have reservations about selling to Oracle, his company's fiercest foe.

Duffield, 64, has been in semiretirement in the Lake Tahoe area since turning over the reigns to Conway in 1999, but he told analysts he is ready to get back to work.

"I'm here for the long term," Duffield said. "I'm totally energized. I think it's going to be a very fun exercise and good for shareholders."