Oracle to buy Australia's Aconex for $1.56bn

Technology giant Oracle has offered US$1.19 billion (A$1.56 billion) to buy Australian listed cloud software provider Aconex.

The Aconex platform.

The Aconex board of directors has unanimously recommended the A$7.80 cash per share buyout offer, which represents a 47 percent premium on the company's last closing price of A$5.29 on Friday.

The proposal will be voted on by shareholders at a scheme meeting in March 2018.

The Melbourne-headquartered cloud collaboration provider for construction firms has a market capitalisation of A$1.06 billion.

It was founded in 2000 by Leigh Jasper - the company's CEO, and who will remain with the business should the Oracle acquisition go through - and Rob Phillpot.

Aconex's shares have rebounded in recent months after plunging to a low of A$3.08 in February following a surprise warning of lower revenue expectations and a significant drop in profit.

The company's biggest share price peak in the last five years was A$8.28 in July 2016.

Aconex chairman Adam Lewis said the A$7.80-per share offer from Oracle represented a "significant premium and a high degree of certainty of value to shareholders through the cash offer and limited conditionality".

Jasper said the Aconex and Oracle businesses were a "natural fit" and "highly complementary".

Oracle plans to use the Aconex business to offer an end-to-end project management offering that allows customers to "effectively plan, build, and operate construction projects".