Oracle to buy BEA Systems

Well I guess this took longer than anyone expected, but I guess BEA Systems have held off long enough for Oracle to purchase them for a decent price ( over 19$ a share ) or over inflated price.

There are some more details on the news wire (1) (2) and from Oracle.

Unless BEA Systems have oil rights or an endless supply of gold bullion stored at their head quarters, it is really unclear to me why Oracle would want to pay so much for the company. They do have a decent user base, but this is dwindling and there is so much technology overlap with what Oracle sell today.

For Oracle, I am not sure what company comes next... Larry, how about SAP..