PeopleSoft to pay $1.7bn for JD Edwards

Application software company PeopleSoft will acquire JD Edwards in a stock deal worth $1.7bn, the companies said Monday. The merger will create the second-largest business software company.

The deal calls for each share of JD Edwards stock to be exchanged for 0.86 of a PeopleSoft share, valuing J.D. Edwards' stock at around $14.10 - a 19 per cent premium over Friday's closing price of $11.81.

The merger will create a company with $2.8bn in annual revenue, 13,000 employees and more than 11,000 customers in 150 countries.

PeopleSoft said the deal will help expand its business presence in manufacturing, distribution and asset-intensive industries.

"With PeopleSoft's strength in the large enterprise space and services industries, combined with JD Edwards' position as an acknowledged leader in the mid-market and manufacturing, we will be able to serve the entire enterprise software market in a way that no other vendor can," JD Edwards CEO Bob Dutkowsky said in a release.

PeopleSoft saw its stock tumble by more than 50 per cent in 2002, while sales dropped 8 per cent and earnings fell 5 per cent over the course of the year.

Margaret Kane writes for CNET News.com.