Oracle to Buy Utilities-Software Maker Opower for $532 Million

By Joshua Jamerson 

Oracle Corp. said it agreed to acquire utilities cloud-services provider Opower Inc., expanding the database giant's portfolio of cloud software for the utilities industry.

Oracle will pay $10.30 a share in cash, a roughly 30% premium over Friday's closing price. The deal is valued at about $532 million, net of Opower's cash.

Opower's stock rose 31% to $10.31 in premarket trading as Oracle remained unchanged from Friday's closing price of $39.86.

Rodger Smith, general manager of Oracle's utilities global business unit, said the tie-up would make Oracle the largest provider of cloud services to utilities.

Oracle, an aggressive acquirer, has frequently picked up companies to fill out its offerings, and the company has looked to its cloud-computing business to provide growth. Through the first nine months of the Oracle's fiscal year, the company's revenue from cloud software had risen 42%.

Opower's software stores and analyzes meter reads from 60 million utility end customers. Its clients include more than 100 global utilities, such as Exelon and National Grid. The company in March offered a downbeat forecast for 2016, sending shares down to record lows.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2016 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.