Oracle NetSuite

Oracle paid $9.2 billion for NetSuite in 2021. The price was eight times revenue. Oracle's traditional database business was mature, growing 4% annually. NetSuite's cloud revenue grew 32% per year. From outside, Oracle was buying growth. From inside, Oracle was eliminating a threat to its business model. NetSuite's customers were exactly who Oracle feared, mid-market companies moving to cloud. They used to buy Oracle's servers, licensing, and services. NetSuite offered cheaper, faster alternatives requiring no sales team. But Oracle saw the leverage. NetSuite had 12,000 customers. Most needed CRM, marketing automation, HR systems. Oracle owned all those through acquisitions.