Oracle To Buy Hiring Software Company Taleo For $1.9 Billion

Oracle Corp. agreed to acquire human-resourcessoftware maker Taleo Corp. for $1.9 billion, the software giant's latestpush into products delivered over the Internet.

The deal suggests the industry's recent buying streak for Web-based software,commonly referred to as cloud computing, isn't over; but, the mild 18%premium over Wednesday's close raises questions about what tech giants arewilling to pay for cloud-based software.

Separately on Thursday, Taleo reported a slightly wider fourth-quarter lossthan it had a year before. Revenue from its software subscriptions rose, however sodid costs.

Oracle touted online software efforts at its user conference last fall andsaid it would launch programs that clients access over computer networks. InOctober, it agreed to buy customer-service software maker RightNow TechnologiesInc. for $1.43 billion, getting in on the industry's shopping spree forproviders of Web-based business tools.