European Commission wants to reach a decision on hostile bid before the end of October

The European Commission has confirmed that it wants to reach a decision on Oracle (Profile, Products, Articles) Corp.’s hostile bid for PeopleSoft Inc. before the end of October, prompting speculation that it will approve the merger. The Commission suspended its investigation into the case in April, saying that it was waiting to receive extra billing information from Oracle. Oracle believes that it had supplied the Commission with all the information it could, arguing that it has already provided the Commission with the data it needs to take a decision, people close to the case have said. But Monti’s spokeswoman said on Friday that Commission officials are still in contact with Oracle, with a view to obtaining additional information, which the company promised to send as quickly as possible. The Commission’s desire to decide the case before Monti's tenure ends on Oct. 31 is seen as an indication that the E.U.'s legislative body does not share the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ's) view that the merger should be blocked on competitiveness grounds, said a source close to the case. "If (the Commission) was minded to block this, why hasn't it done so already?" the source said. Given the time needed to get approval to block mergers it seems unlikely that Monti could veto the merger by the end of October, raising expectations that the Commission will support it.