Purchase of Kansas City’s Cerner nears closing as buyer Oracle clears antitrust reviews

Software giant Oracle announced it has cleared antitrust reviews of its $28.3 billion purchase of Cerner Corp.

The news means Oracle could close within days close on its purchase of the healthcare IT firm, which is the largest private employer in the Kansas City metro area.

Oracle has completed regulatory review in the United States and Europe and expects to finalize the stock tender offer on Monday, the company said in a news release Wednesday. Company officials did not say when they expect to close on the sale.

In an all-cash merger agreement reached in late December, the Austin-based firm agreed to pay $95 per Cerner share, a premium over the approximate $80 price that the stock was trading at before news of the merger broke.

The merger casts doubt about the future of a local startup that grew to a Fortune 500 company.

In 1979, three men sat around a picnic table in Kansas City’s Loose Park and started work on what would become Cerner. The company grew to become a major player in the world of healthcare record keeping.

While mergers often result in job cuts as companies cut redundant functions, Oracle has pledged to grow its presence of jobs in Kansas City once the sale is complete.

Within Oracle, Cerner will continue as a dedicated subsidiary focused on its products that serve hospitals, clinics and doctors offices across the globe.

Oracle has characterized the merger as mutually beneficial: The tech giant can lend its software expertise and resources to Cerner, who will deliver Oracle a substantial presence in the lucrative healthcare business.

“Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capability to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with a new generation of healthcare information systems,” Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chairman and chief technology officer, said in a news release. “Better information enables better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes.”