Oracle Grabs Eloqua’s Marketing Cloud for $871M
Oracle today announced that it is acquiring Eloqua, a cloud-based marketing automation and revenue performance management software company, in a deal valued at $871 million or $23.50 per share.
Thomas Kurian, executive vice president of Oracle Development, said that Eloqua's technology will occupy a prominent spot in his company's growing cloud suite of business software.
“Eloqua's leading marketing automation cloud will become the centerpiece of the Oracle Marketing Cloud and is an important addition to the Oracle Customer Experience offering, which includes the Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Commerce Cloud, Oracle Service Cloud, Oracle Content Cloud and Oracle Social Cloud,” he said in a company statement.
In a letter to customers, Kurian informed that Eloqua's employees will be welcomed into Oracle's workforce.
“Eloqua's management team and employees are expected to join Oracle and continue their focus facilitating excellence in marketing. Eloqua brings significant knowledge and capabilities in the area of modern marketing practices and the customer buying experience,” he wrote.
Marketing Automation Takes Off
Eloqua specializes in marketing automation, a subset of customer relationship management (CRM) software. As the term implies, the company's platform automates several marketing tasks like customer data integration and campaign management, enabling companies to streamline their processes, refine lead generation and engage with consumers in a targeted manner.
IBM and Teradata helped put marketing automation on the map as only big companies can: an acquisition spree. IBM snapped up Coremetrics and Unica while Aprimo was purchased by Teradata. Today, Oracle continues the tradition with the newly-announced Eloqua deal.
Oracle Buys a Bigger Cloud
Oracle has poured billions into growing its public cloud CRM and human capital management (HCM) offerings since the platform debuted in October 2011. Later that same month, the company acquired RightNow Technologies, a cloud-based customer service provider, for $1.5 billion.
Oracle spent big again in February when it paid $1.9 billion for Taleo, a cloud-based HCM specialist. In May, Oracle snapped up Vitrue's social marketing cloud for a reported $350 million.
Oracle circled back to HCM in September when it acquired New York City-based SelectMinds, a cloud-based social recruiting services specialist, for an undisclosed sum.
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.
Pedro Hernandez contributes to Enterprise Apps Today, and 11Press, the technology network. He was previously the managing editor of Internet.com, an IT-related website network. He has expertise in Smart Tech, CRM, and Mobile Tech, Helping Banks and Fintechs, Telcos and Automotive OEMs, and Healthcare and Identity Service Providers to Protect Mobile Apps.
