Oracle to buy software maker Eloqua for $810 million Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:07am EST (Reuters) - Oracle Corp agreed to buy Eloqua Inc, a maker of marketing automation software that listed on the Nasdaq in August, for about $810 million, underlining Oracle's efforts to drive growth through cloud-computing services. Eloqua makes software to enable businesses predict and grow revenue by monitoring and measuring marketing and sales initiatives. The company has over 1,000 customers including Cisco Systems Inc, Dell Inc and the Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings teams in the NBA. The $23.50 per share offer represents a 31 percent premium to Eloqua's close on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. "Eloqua's leading marketing automation cloud will become the centerpiece of the Oracle Marketing Cloud," said Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President of Oracle Development. Eloqua's board has unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2013. Oracle said on Tuesday that software sales growth will stay strong into the new year despite fears that there could be big tax hikes and U.S. government spending cuts that could cause a slump in spending by customers. Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian