Peter Kaminski / Flickr Creative Commons
Oracle yesterday announced that it will acquire digital analytics company Moat. No financial terms were disclosed, but multiple sources say the deal value is nearly $1 billion.
Skyscraper: This is a major success story for New York City tech, which has otherwise proven much better and raising capital than at returning it. Particularly notable is that Moat has largely flown under the media radar, whereas many of its neighbors actively court coverage.
Why sell to Oracle? Distribution, distribution, distribution.
Thought process: This is yet another large startup sale where the financial terms are being kept under wraps, per order of the acquirer. Apparently Oracle doesn't want to appear too generous to other potential targets, but the strategy seems short-sighted. Some initial stories about the deal seemed to imply that it was a low-priced acqui-hire, which only serves to devalue Moat in the eyes of potential customers. If enterprise software companies often go public, in part, to increase their perceived staying power, shouldn't the same apply in an M&A scenario?