Oracle to buy cloud-services provider Textura Corp for $663 million

Oracle Corp. yesterday struck a deal to buy cloud-services provider Textura Corp for $663 million, in a bid to expand its Web-based services to the construction industry.

Oracle, run by founder and CEO Larry Ellison, is paying $26 per share in cash, valuing the transaction at approximately $663 million, net of Textura's cash.

Textura is a provider of construction contracts and payment management cloud services and process $3.4 billion in payments for over 6,000 projects each month.

Illinois-based Textura offers its cloud services  for  fee based on project activity to the engineering and construction industry and more than 85,000 general and subcontractors are connected to its platform.

Oracle said it would combine Textura with its Oracle Primavera product-management software, which also focuses on construction, to form a single division.

''Together, Oracle Primavera and Textura will form the Oracle Engineering and Construction Global Business Unit offering a comprehensive cloud-based project control and execution platform that manages all phases of engineering and construction projects,'' Oracle said in a statement.

''The increasingly global engineering and construction industry requires digital modernization in a way that automates manual processes and embraces the power of cloud computing to easily connect the construction job site, reduce cost overruns, and improve productivity,'' said Mike Sicilia, SVP and GM, Engineering and Construction Global Business Unit, Oracle.