NEW YORK - Sun Microsystems Inc., the third-largest maker of server computers, agreed to buy software company MySQL AB for about $1 billion and said profit exceeded analysts' estimates last quarter, sending the shares higher.
The deal lets Sun enter the $15 billion market for database software, challenging Oracle Corp. and adding a source of service revenue.
Closely held MySQL develops databases and lets customers such as Google Inc. and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange use them for free, making money from maintenance.
Sun is bolstering its software unit to offer more programs that businesses need to build Web-based systems, chief executive Jonathan Schwartz said.
"MySQL gives Sun a flagship product, the most popular open-source database technology," said Raven Zachary, an analyst with research firm 451 Group in Portland, Ore.
Sun rose 3.7 percent to $15.53 on the Nasdaq. Sun has fallen 36 percent in the past 12 months.
With MySQL, Sun will be able to offer its Solaris operating system, development tools such as Java, and the server and storage computers that run them, Schwartz said.
Some analysts expressed skepticism that Sun can make the deal work. Less than 1 percent of MySQL users pay for the software, Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research in San Francisco, said yesterday.
