Oracle Is Buying NetSuite for $9.3 Billion

Per NetSuite’s latest proxy, filed in April, Larry Ellison owned 39.7% of NetSuite’s outstanding shares at that time. The shares are held by an entity called NetSuite Restricted Holdings LLC.

In a deal that’s been long rumored, Oracle is buying NetSuite, a cloud software company backed by Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison.

NetSuite, like Oracle, offers financial accounting and related applications delivered over the Internet. NetSuite has traditionally focused more on mid-market companies compared to Oracle’s larger enterprise clientele.

The addition of NetSuite’s customers and cloud Software-as-a-Service talent may help it compete better with Oracle’s rival (and sometimes partner), Salesforce.

The transaction is valued at $109 per share or $9.3 billion in cash, according to an Oracle statement.

Mark Hurd, chief executive officer of Oracle ORCL, said in Thursday’s announcement, “Oracle and NetSuite cloud applications are complementary, and will coexist in the marketplace forever. We intend to invest heavily in both products—engineering and distribution.”

In the same press release, NetSuite chief executive officer Zach Nelson, an Ellison protégé, said his company will benefit from Oracle’s “global scale and reach.” Evan Goldberg, NetSuite’s chief technology officer, is also an Oracle alum and Ellison favorite.

The latest set of acquisition rumors surfaced earlier this month, at which time Oracle had no comment and NetSuite did not respond to requests for comment.

Now that the news is official, the transaction is expected to close in 2016.

This article originally appeared on Fortune.com