Road to Peoplesoft Full of Barriers

Oracle Corp. faces mounting obstacles in its bid for enterprise application software rival PeopleSoft Inc. as more agencies look into the proposed hostile takeover and as PeopleSoft ratchets up its legal defense.

Canada's Competition Bureau has launched antitrust investigations that come on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice's continuing inquiry and an effort by 30 states to contact customers and industry analysts.

The European Commission, a regulatory body for the European Union, is also studying the proposed deal, Oracle officials confirmed. Like the other agencies, Canada's Competition Bureau is examining, among other things, market share and competition of the two companies; barriers to market entry, including economic or regulatory barriers; competitive products; and whatever competition will remain after a successful merger. Interviewing customers will be a major part of the reviews.

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