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By Dawn Kawamoto, 15 October 2003 09:15

NEWS Oracle yesterday officially submitted its notification papers to the European Commission over its hostile bid for PeopleSoft. The filing activates a 30-day deadline for antitrust regulators to determine whether to allow its takeover bid to go through or seek a more in-depth review. If the EC or the US Department of Justice challenge the merger, it could be a deal stopper for Oracle. Over the years, the EC has increasingly wielded great power in determining the fate of companies' mergers. Its role is considered to be as influential as that of the US Justice Department, antitrust experts say. The commission has set a provisional deadline to make a decision on the deal by 17 November, according to a filing on the agency's website. If the commission determines that it wants a closer look at the takeover bid, it can move the deal into its "in-depth second phase," which can last up to four more months. Oracle said it is optimistic that the European Commission will ultimately issue a favourable decision on its bid. An Oracle spokesman said: "We look forward to working with the commission and are confident that, at the end of the day, the European Commission will see that this transaction does not raise any serious antitrust issues." PeopleSoft and some attorneys who specialise in antitrust issues expressed doubt that the transaction will pass antitrust review. A PeopleSoft spokesman said: "We've said this before, that Oracle's hostile bid faces severe antitrust issues. We think this is behind us, and our management's focus is on moving ahead." Meanwhile, one attorney familiar with antitrust issues said: "It strikes me that it would be unduly optimistic to have this deal go through without a second-phase investigation. This is a three-to-two deal [in the US] and a three-to-two deal in Europe. There are three large competitors in this [business applications] market now and two after the merger." Dawn Kawamoto writes for News.com