Oracle unlikely to face customer liabilities

Oracle Corp on Friday said it faced a potential liability of up to $3.5 billion if it failed to meet certain obligations to PeopleSoft customers, but added that it did not plan to take any actions that would trigger the penalties. The business software maker asserts that PeopleSoft tried to ward off Oracle's June 2003 take-over bid by giving guarantees to customers that an acquirer would support and update their products. The guarantees were worth as much five times the license and first-year support fees, Oracle said.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Oracle said it does not believe that its post-acquisition activities will trigger the guarantees, and that in any event it would have "substantial defences" should a customer try to enforce the agreement.