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Oracle has '$70bn, five-year acquisition plan'

Oh wait, no it doesn't

Charles Phillips, one of the co-presidents at software giant and unenthusiastic server maker Oracle, reportedly said the company had plans to double its acquisition budget over the next five years to a total of $70bn. But apparently this is not true.

Phillips was speaking on Thursday at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2010 conference in Aspen, Colorado, and perhaps the rarefied air got to the co-president or the reporter working for Fortune magazine, which hosted the conference and reported on Phillips' comments. "It's early in the game, and there's plenty left to do," Phillips is quoted as saying. There is no direct quote on the $70bn, five-year figure in the story, but Phillips is quoted saying that Oracle is not interested in buying SaaSy CRM rival Salesforce.com. which was founded by ex-Oracle hotshot Marc Benioff. (Sorry, you're going to have to get rich selling yourself to IBM instead.)

Oracle's PR machine, which is about as responsive as a mother-in-law (meaning, it talks to you when it wants to criticize or to get something, but generally ignores you otherwise), woke up early Friday morning to clarify Phillips' comments, saying that Oracle's acquisition strategy had not changed.

"Oracle does not have a five year acquisition budget," said Oracle spokesperson Karen Tillman in a statement. "We don't even have a one year acquisition budget. While it is highly unlikely that we will spend anything approaching $70 billion in five years, we will be opportunistic and, if market conditions warrant, we will buy additional companies that further our strategic goals and address our customers' needs." ®

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