Oracle renews M&A interest in Micros Systems

$5bn deal back on the table as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison looks for deals to re-ignite growth

Software giant Oracle has renewed its interest in acquiring retail software vendor Micros Systems, some five years after an original deal between the two companies fell through at the last moment.

At approximately $5bn, the deal would be the largest since the 2010 purchase of Sun Microsystems, which helped turn Oracle into a maker of Unix systems in addition to software. However, sales of Sun's servers have fallen since the deal.

According to Bloomberg, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has rekindled his interest in buying the company as he looks to new deals in a bid to improve Oracle's moribund growth rates.

Columbia, Maryland-based Micros Systems' revenues weighed in at $1.29bn in fiscal 2013, but the company has been growing strongly for a well-established vendor. Founded in 1977, it manufactures and sells hardware, software and services primarily for the restaurant point of sale, but also hotel, hospitality, specialty retails and other similar markets.

It acquired Torex in the UK in September 2012 for £114.5m in cash, plus £48m in debt, from private equity firm Cerberus.

Oracle has spent approximately $50bn in acquiring about 100 companies over the past 10 years, including most recently a number of buys intended to improve the company's position in cloud computing.

These include marketing automation software-as-a-service provider Eloqua, cloud marketing company BlueKai, cross-channel marketing platform Responsys and Compendium, a specialist in marketing content management - not to mention Xsigo, RightNow Technologies, Taleo and Vitrue in 2011 and 2012.