Oracle's acquisition of Sun approved by US justice dept

Software giant Oracle Corporation's $7.4 billion offer to acquire Sun Microsystems moved one-step closer to completing the acquisition after the US Department of Justice (DoJ)gave its approval to the deal late last week.

Redwood City, California-based Oracle said in a statement that the acquisition won the approval from the Justice Department last week, and was now waiting for European Commission (EC) clearance before the dal could be concluded.

Sun's stockholders had approved the transaction on 16 July 2009.

Oracle, seeking to strengthen its position against its bigger rival IBM, stepped in to acquire Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion in April after IBM's attempt to buy the beleaguered server and hardware maker fell apart. (See: Oracle trumps IBM, acquires Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion)

In June, the DoJ had extended its review of the deal to seek more information since it was concerned about Sun's licensing of Java, the programming language that runs on more than seven billion electronic devices globally including mobile phones and PCs.

European Union's Brussels-based antitrust watchdog, EC, had said on 3 August that it had scheduled 3 September as the review date for  to look into the proposed deal.