Thursday, September 3, 2009
Mr. Ellison Asks That His Burgers Be Served With Freedom Fries Until Further Notice
Approved without incident by Sun shareholders in July and the U.S. Justice Department in August, Oracle’s planned $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems seemed poised to easily pass muster with European regulators as well. Sadly for Oracle, that’s not how things have played out. Citing “serious concerns” about the deal’s effect on competition in the market for databases, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into it.
AT&T has beaten out some 30 telecommunications carriers and private equity groups to buy the wireless spectrum and other assets that rival Verizon Communications was required to divest as a condition of its recent acquisition of Alltel Wireless. The company said this weekend that it will pay $2.35 billion in cash to buy licenses, network assets and some 1.5 million wireless subscribers across 18 states, mostly in rural areas. 
