Oracle Corp named five candidates late on Friday it plans to nominate for election to PeopleSoft Inc's board of directors, in an ongoing $7.3 billion hostile bid to take over the company.
The anticipated proxy fight at the upcoming board meeting includes asking shareholders to also vote whether PeopleSoft board member Michael Maples, who joined the board from J.D. Edwards, should remain on the board. PeopleSoft acquired J.D. Edwards last July.
As part of Oracle's anticipated proxy fight, Oracle said if Maples does not stand for re-election, it would introduce a proposal to expand the number of PeopleSoft board seats to nine.
Such a move could potentially tip the balance of power in Oracle's favor if shareholders elect Oracle's candidates. PeopleSoft currently has an eight-member board, making a board coup tougher for Oracle.
Oracle, the world's second-biggest software maker, has made repeated advances to purchase rival software maker PeopleSoft, even as European and US antitrust regulators pour over the details. Regulators are not expected to render a decision until later this year.
"We believe that the incumbent PeopleSoft board of directors has consistently refused to consider its stockholders' best interests regarding the Oracle tender offer," said Jim Finn, an Oracle spokesman in a statement.
"This newly-created directorship would be decided by the stockholders at the annual meeting, enabling the PeopleSoft stockholders to elect a majority of the board," he said.
Other candidates include: Duke K. Bristow, an economist at the University of California, Los Angeles; Richard Clemmer, the former CEO of PurchasePro.com; Roger Noall, former senior executive vice president of KeyCorp; Laurence Paul, managing principal of Laurel Crown Capital, LLC; and Artur Raviv, a professor of finance at the Kellogg Graduate School of Managment of North-western University.
PeopleSoft was not immediately reachable for comment.
The company has not yet set the date of its annual board meeting. The 2003 meeting was held in May.
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