On April 24, 2007, Oracle announced our agreement to acquire LODESTAR Corporation ("LODESTAR"), a leading provider of meter data management and competitive energy operation solutions. We expect the transaction to close in May 2007, subject to certain closing conditions. Until such time, each company will continue to operate independently. We would like to take this opportunity to pledge our continued commitment to the success of your business and to outline the benefits we expect this transaction to deliver. LODESTAR delivers best-in-class meter data management, commercial & industrial (C&I) billing, load research, load forecasting & pricing, load profiling, and settlement and transaction management solutions to the utilities industry. For over 25 years, LODESTAR has had a long history of helping utilities around the world enhance customer service, improve operations, better compete, and achieve excellence in business performance. LODESTAR is headquartered in Peabody, Massachusetts and has assembled a world-class team focused on utilities solutions. Oracle and LODESTAR have complementary products with a shared focus that information and adaptive business processes are keys to achieving corporate revenue and profitability goals. After the closing of the transaction, Oracle plans to accelerate the pace of innovation and integration of LODESTAR's products. The strengths of LODESTAR's solutions for utilities are planned to be combined with Oracle's industry leading database, middleware, and enterprise applications, including Oracle Utilities applications acquired through SPLWorldGroup. Combined, we plan to deliver the most comprehensive suite of mission critical operational systems for all segments of the utilities industry, combining meter data management, load profiling, pricing, marketing, sales, customer care, billing, analytics and management of the networks, work force, assets, and business to business transactions. We are also committed to supporting our respective customers, which include over 2,500 utilities worldwide, and 10 of the top 10 Global electric and gas companies. We anticipate that the proposed combination will provide many key benefits to our customers after the closing of the transaction: - Comphrensive Oracle Utilities suite: Combination of Oracle and LODESTAR is expected to provide the most comprehensive suite of mission critical operational systems for all segments of the utilities industry, enabling end-to-end marketing, sales, customer care, revenue management, and service delivery processes.
- Improve competitive advantage: The combined solutions are expected to help facilitate the transformation of utility operations based on a leading edge infrastructure that improves the customer’s ability to compete.
- Industry needs addressed in a dynamic environment: By combining the talents of both organizations, Oracle expects to better address evolving customer needs and effectively respond to industry trends that are driving the demand for customer-centric, cost effective solutions.
- Customer centric business operations: After the closing, we expect to deliver flexible and scalable solutions that address regulated, competitive and transitioning utilities industry segments.
- Backed by a single global vendor: Customers will have access to proven best-in-class utility management solutions combined with comprehensive, world-class capabilities in applications and technology infrastructure—all from the same vendor. This is expected to significantly reduce total cost of ownership while satisfying customer demand for a global integrated platform that supports varied business processes, services, markets, and geographies.
We are excited about this acquisition and how it will accelerate innovation in the utilities industry. More information about the transaction can be found at oracle.com/LODESTAR. | 
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