PeopleSoft succumbed to a sweetened $10.3bn (€7.56bn) takeover offer from Oracle on Monday, putting an end to a bitter 18-month battle that had sprung from slower growth and tougher times in the technology world.

Larry Ellison, the Oracle chief executive who has promised to lead a broad consolidation in the software industry, said his company would stay out of the takeover market for at least a year while it proved it could reap the promised benefits from the deal.