Shares in NetSuite Inc (NYSE:N) were up on Tuesday as rumours continued to swirl that the cloud computing company could be a takeover target.
Market gossips reckon Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), which already owns 40% of NetSuite, is closing in on a deal to buy the rest.
Oracle was said to have been mulling over buying the rest of NetSuite, selling it to a rival or entering a joint venture with a new shareholder.
But one rumour has it that it is in advanced talks with NetSuite about a deal to buy the other 60%.
Oracle is keen to expand in cloud services, extra sales of which are expected this year to cover lost sales in its larger core software business.
It said earlier this month that it planned to be the first company to reach US$10bn in cloud revenues, throwing down the gauntlet to rival Salesforce.com.
A market source said: "Oracle is keen to buy NetSuite because (Oracle's) biggest growth area is the cloud."
Oracle said it was "officially at the end of the beginning" in making the move to the cloud, the Financial Times reported co-CEO Safra Catz as saying on June 17.
Other companies that have been rumoured to be interested in buying NetSuite including Salesforce itself, IBM (LON:IBM), Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google and SAP SE (SAP:XETRA).
London-listed accountancy software firm Sage Group plc (LON:SGE) has also been flagged up as a possible bidder, but market watchers have voiced doubts about whether it could match Oracle's muscle.
Shares in NetSuite were up 0.6% at US$67.72 in mid-session. Oracle's stock lifted 1% to US$38.86.