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Monday, February 4, 2013

Oracle to purchase network gear maker Acme Packet for $2.1 bln, (NASDAQ: APKT), (NASDAQ: CSCO), (NASDAQ: ELOQ)

Oracle Corp will purchase network equipment maker Acme Packet Inc for $2.1 billion, putting it in a better position to compete with Cisco Systems Inc in moving data securely over internet networks.Shares of Acme were trading 7 cents above the offer price of $29.25 in early trading on Monday, suggesting that some investors anticipate a counter bid.The deal is Oracle's biggest since it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010 for about $7 billion. The company bought nearly a dozen companies in 2012, including Eloqua Inc for $810 million in December.Telecom carriers have been dumping wireline and other legacy services as people increasingly use a newer breed of devices to access Internet and businesses shift to IP (internet protocol) networks, an area where Acme Packet specializes.

Acme Packet, Inc. provides session delivery network solutions, which enable the delivery of voice, video, data and unified communications services and applications across Internet Protocol (IP), networks. Shares of APKT traded higher by 22.41% or $5.3625/share to $29.29. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.26 and as high as $36.27. On average, 1777330 shares of APKT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 15033300.

Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry and provide services associated with these products and their use. Shares of CSCO traded higher by 1.17% or $0.2434/share to $21.07. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $14.96 and as high as $21.30. On average, 39461900 shares of CSCO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 8095681.

Eloqua, Inc., formerly Eloqua Limited, provides on-demand revenue performance management (RPM) software solutions that are designed to enable businesses to accelerate revenue growth and improve revenue predictability by automating, monitoring and measuring their complex marketing and sales initiatives. Shares of ELOQ remained unchanged at $23.49. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $11.60 and as high as $24.83. On average, 232819 shares of ELOQ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 18185.



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