Oracle Deal for Hyperion Is Expected

Oracle is near a deal to acquire Hyperion Solutions, which makes software that allows corporations to analyze and track their performance, for more than $3.1 billion, according to people briefed on the deal.

The acquisition is expected to be announced as early as today, these people said.

The deal would be the latest trophy in a lengthy string of acquisitions by Oracle, the database software giant that has been struggling to grow from within.

In December, Oracle posted strong earnings growth for its second fiscal quarter, but its growth in license sales disappointed investors. The company said at the time that it had failed to close some crucial licensing deals during the quarter. License sales rose 28 percent in the quarter, but that was down from 80 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Exact terms of the deal could not be learned last night.

Shares of Hyperion slipped 25 cents yesterday in regular trading, to $42.84, giving it a market value of about $2.5 billion. Oracle shares closed at $16.43, up 14 cents. Representatives for Oracle, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., and Hyperion, with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., could not be reached for comment.

Oracle has long been known as one of the most aggressive acquirers of technology companies.

Led by Lawrence J. Ellison, who sees acquisitions as a tool for growth, the company has at times seemed on the verge of gobbling nearly every rival in the business software market. In the last three years, Oracle spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions, including buying two of its most formidable competitors, PeopleSoft and Siebel.

PeopleSoft, the company Oracle fought over for nearly two years, was its most notable deal.

In December 2004, after a battle for control that grew nasty, Oracle finally acquired PeopleSoft for about $10.3 billion, becoming the second-largest maker of business-management software.

The day after completing the deal, Oracle fired four top officers of PeopleSoft.

Since that deal, Oracle's appetite has been unsatiated. In 2005, the company bought a stake in I-flex Solutions, a maker of financial software based in Mumbai, India, for a reported $909 million.

Within the last year, Oracle has struck a series of deals, including a $5.9 billion acquisition of Siebel Systems and a $440 million purchase of Stellent last year.

Hyperion would be one of the last pieces to complete Oracle's strategy. Founded in 1981 as IMRS, Hyperion has grown into one of the biggest makers of business analysis software through its Hyperion System 9 suite.

For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $765 million in revenue.

Hyperion itself has grown through a series of deals, notably a 1998 merger with Arbor Software that brought the popular Essbase database software program into its fold.

Hyperion has long been speculated about as a merger partner with Business Objects, another business analysis software maker, according to analysts.

Indeed, the two companies held talks this year, but those negotiations collapsed over price and other issues, people briefed on them said.

Oracle has talked to half a dozen companies recently about acquiring them, according to people familiar with those talks. Hyperion has long been on that list.

Last year, The Mercury News in San Jose ranked Hyperion's executive chairman, Jeffrey R. Rodek, as No. 49 among the highest-paid executives in Silicon Valley.

Mr. Rodek, who became chairman and chief executive in 1999 and executive chairman in 2004, received $11.01 million in compensation in 2005, including salary and stock options.