Oracle acquires Eloqua, a marketing automation firm

Oracle announced yesterday its plans to acquire Eloqua, a cloud-based marketing company. The agreement was made for $23.50 per share, or approximately $871 million, net of Eloqua's cash.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2013 subject to Eloqua stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Eloqua's technology lets companies begin, manage and analyse marketing campaigns, and offers revenue performance management that's intimately tied into its cloud marketing service. It looks like Oracle wants to build a single brand experience for customers by creating a cloud offering that enables business to create an integrated, end-to-end process of marketing, sales, service, and support.

In the Oracles website, Thomas Kurian, executive VP, Oracle Development states that modern marketing practices are driving revenue growth and is a critical area of investment for companies today. Eloqua's marketing automation cloud will become the centerpiece of the Oracle Marketing Cloud and is an important addition to the Oracle Customer Experience offering."

The acquisition comes after Oracle September purchase of SelectMinds, which gave it a leg-up on cloud human resource services.