DOJ Stalls Oracle-PeopleSoft Merger

Updated from 5:24 p.m. EDT

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday delayed Oracle's(ORCL Quote) proposed acquisition of rival software maker PeopleSoft(PSFT Quote).

The delay, which is likely to last for several months, came in the form of a request for more information about the $6.3 billion hostile takeover.

"This does not mean that the staff (of the Justice Department) sees a problem with the acquisition," said Paul Friedman, who handles antitrust cases for the Philadelphia law firm of Dechert LLP. "It does mean that they have questions that need to be answered," he said. ...