US business software giant Oracle said on Thursday that it expected the European Commission to give the green light next month to its takeover bid for Sun Microsystems.
“We expect the European Commission to unconditionally clear the acquisition of Sun in January,” Oracle president Safra Catz said as the Redwood Shores, California-based company released its second-quarter earnings.
“I want to thank all of our customers for the overwhelming support they have given us during this process,” Catz said in a statement.
EC competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said earlier this week that talks with Oracle had been “constructive” and the EC is “optimistic that the case will have a satisfactory outcome.”
Oracle reported on Thursday that its net profit rose 12 percent to US$1.46 billion in the second quarter of its financial year.
Revenue was up 4 percent at US$5.86 billion, better than the US$5.69 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.
“We delivered results which were substantially better than we expected on both the top and bottom line,” Oracle chief financial officer Jeff Epstein said.
“Our solid top line growth, coupled with disciplined expense management, was key in generating 8.4 billion dollars of free cash flow over the last 12 months,” Epstein said.
Oracle, the leading provider of database software for businesses, said it continued to make gains against its German rival SAP.
“For the fourth consecutive quarter, Oracle took market share from SAP in every region around the world,” Oracle president Charles Phillips said.
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