Oracle has acquired Cerner for roughly $28.3 billion, the database software giant and the healthcare technology provider confirmed on December 20, 2021.
Rumors about the Oracle-Cerner deal had floated on The Wall Street Journal and CNBC ahead of the official announcement.
Cerner develops hardware, software and IT systems for the clinical, financial and operations areas of hospitals and healthcare systems. The company, based in North Kansas City, Missouri, employs roughly 26,000 people, and revenue was $5.5 billion in 2020.
Key Cerner partners include global IT consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, among others.
Cerner Partners, Market Value, Executive Leadership
Cerner had a market value of roughly $23 billion before the Oracle M&A rumors surfaced on December 16, 2021. Cerner's rivals include Epic Systems and Athenahealth, The Journal noted.
Rumors about a Cerner buyout swirled in early 2021, but quieted down when Cerner hired David Feinberg as CEO in October 2021. Feinberg previously was VP if Google Health for nearly three years. Earlier he led Geisinger and UCLA Health.
An Oracle deal for Cerner follows Microsoft's buyout of Nuance Communications for $16 billion in April 2021.
Technology Industry M&A: Previously Deals
Both Oracle and Cerner have extensive M&A experience. Oracle's largest previous acquisitions involved HR software maker PeopleSoft ($10.3 billion in 2005), and cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) company NetSuite ($9.3 billion in 2016), which had attracted early investment dollars from Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
Cerner, meanwhile, in 2019 acquired AbleVets -- a strategic IT consulting and engineering firm specializing in cyber, cloud and system development solutions for federal and commercial organizations.
Story originally published December 17, 2021. Updated thereafter with additional details.
