J.D. Edwards AU concedes uncertainty in PeopleSoft deal - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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J.D. Edwards AU concedes uncertainty in PeopleSoft deal

By Iain Ferguson, 0
June 03, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/J-D-Edwards-AU-concedes-uncertainty-in-PeopleSoft-deal/0,139023166,120275042,00.htm

J.D. Edwards' Australian and New Zealand managing director, Ian Hodge, has welcomed the company's pending acquisition by PeopleSoft as "overwhelmingly positive," but conceded the move brings with it a "bit of uncertainty" for the company's staff in the region.

Hodge said the US$1.7 billion stock deal, announced in Monday in the United States, was a positive move for shareholders, customers and the majority of the 200-strong workforce in Australia and New Zealand, for whom opportunities would open up within the combined entity.

He added that while human nature dictated that "there was also a bit of uncertainty" for the local operation, the operation would "get on with the job and keep selling software".

Hodge said that, with speculation mounting over several months over further consolidation in the software industry, PeopleSoft had gained first-mover advantage by initiating the deal with J.D. Edwards. The two companies' complementary product-sets added to the benefits gained by PeopleSoft as a result of the deal.

Hodge said the reasons why customers and prospects invested in or considered J.D.Edwards' solutions -- the value of the software and the company's research and development commitment -- were undiluted by the deal. He agreed that "nothing changes" as a result of PeopleSoft's move.

The company's Australian client base includes Fox Studios Australia, Berri Ltd, Hunter Douglas Australia and the University of Wollongong.

J.D. Edwards, which supplies software to the manufacturing, distribution, asset-intensive and project and services industries, has been in existence for 25 years. The company was widely cited as a member of the JBOPS -- J.D.Edwards, Baan, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP -- 'club' which dominated the high-end enterprise resource planning space for several years until 2000. With the demise of Baan and the pending acquisition of J.D.Edwards, that group has now shrunk to the OPS.

PeopleSoft's local operation declined to comment on the deal, citing U.S. regulatory and shareholder obligations.