Sun Microsystems plans to cut as many as 3,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its global workforce, during the next year as it prepares for Oracle's takeover of the company.
The cuts, revealed on Tuesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, represent the second major round of layoffs in a year for the server maker. Sun announced restructuring plans last November to cut up to 6,000 jobs this year, or 18 percent of its global workforce.
Those cuts were disclosed before Oracle announced its $7.4 billion bid for Sun in April, following Sun's rejection of overtures from IBM. IBM was still interested in Sun and somewhat blindsided by Oracle's move, a source told CNET News at the time.
The U.S. Justice Department approved the takeover in August, but the merger still requires approval by the European Commission, which is concerned that the deal could threaten competition in the database market in the European Economic Area (EEA), an association composed of 30 European countries. The Commission has until January 19 to make a final decision on the merger.
Meanwhile, the delay is causing financial turmoil for Sun's business. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said at an industry gathering in Silicon Valley last month, "Sun is losing $100 million a month; we'd like to get this thing done."
The acquisition is part of a change in thinking for Oracle, which, at one time, eschewed mergers but has gone on a buying spree in recent years, gobbling up PeopleSoft and many other software companies. Ellison at one time specifically rejected the notion of buying Sun.
Sun said in the filing that it expects to take $75 million to $125 million in restructuring charges over the next several quarters.
An Oracle representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rival game makers Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive Software signed a confidentiality agreement after agreeing to hold private talks about a potential transaction, EA announced Monday in a regulatory filing.
EA, which had unsuccessfully courted Take-Two for six months, announced last week that it was abandoning its $2 billion hostile bid after Take-Two agreed to present its three-year product release schedule and financial forecasts to EA.
"As a result, EA does not intend to make any further announcements regarding the status of any discussions or negotiations with Take-Two unless and until discussions between EA and Take-Two have been terminated or such parties have entered into a transaction," EA said in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The announcement is the latest twist in EA's long-running but oft-rebuffed effort to acquire Take-Two.
EA took its buyout offer public for the publisher of the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto franchise in February at $26 a share after Take-Two spurned an earlier attempt at a friendly takeover at $25 a share. Take-Two rejected the $26 offer as too low, and EA launched its hostile bid in March. EA subsequently reduced the offer to $25.74 a share. But repeated extensions and offer revisions seemed to hurt the company's credibility.
On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission said it had conducted an investigation of a merger of the companies, but said no further action was required, and closed the investigation.
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