Oracle confirms $28bn Cerner deal

Oracle has confirmed a $28.3bn deal to buy healthcare tech firm Cerner.

Following initial reports suggesting an acquisition was imminent, both companies have now confirmed the news, which at $95 a share is Oracle's biggest ever deal.

Cerner, which specializes in digitalizing medical records, was founded in 1979 and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The company currently has 26,400 employees and annual revenue of $5.5 billion, according to data from Datanyze.

Cerner deal

"Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with better information—enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes," said Larry Ellison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Oracle.

"With this acquisition, Oracle's corporate mission expands to assume the responsibility to provide our overworked medical professionals with a new generation of easier-to-use digital tools that enable access to information via a hands-free voice interface to secure cloud applications. This new generation of medical information systems promises to lower the administrative workload burdening our medical professionals, improve patient privacy and outcomes, and lower overall healthcare costs."

The deal should solidify Oracle’s already strong presence in the healthcare industry, as it currently offers software tech for health insurers, healthcare providers, and public health systems.

Buying Cerner could also heat up the “arms race” with Microsoft, who is also showing increasing interest in digital healthcare tools. Back in April 2021, the Redmond software giants acquired AI company Nuance Communications for $16 billion.

"Cerner has been a leader in helping digitize medical care and now it's time to realize the real promise of that work with the care delivery tools that get information to the right caregivers at the right time," said David Feinberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cerner.

"Joining Oracle as a dedicated Industry Business Unit provides an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate our work modernizing electronic health records (EHR), improving the caregiver experience, and enabling more connected, high-quality and efficient patient care."