Three months after it launched a contentious takeover bid, Oracle Wednesday agreed to buy BEA Systems for $8.5 billion, or $19.38 per share, 14 percent more than its original $17 per share offer.

The news shot BEA shares $2.98 higher, or 19.1 percent, to $18.56 in early morning trading. Oracle shares, meanwhile, tacked on $.07, or 0.3 percent, to $21.38

The deal continues Oracle's drive to consolidate the business software arena, adding BEA and its Weblogic middleware to a stable of products bolstered by the 2005 acquisitions of human resource management software maker Peoplesoft for $10.3 billion and customer relationship management software maker Siebel Systems for $5.85 billion.

Bart Narter, an analyst at Boston-based research firm Celent, said Oracle was following a pattern established in the Siebel and Peoplesoft deals: "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em."

BEA's Weblogic middleware, a type of software that helps different types of computer programs work together, is well-established and Oracle's rival Fusion product has had trouble gaining market share, he said.

"From the technology standpoint, BEA's Weblogic is a proven product," Mr. Narter said. "They'll probably rename it Oracle Weblogic." Mr. Narter said the purchase will let Oracle compete more effectively against rivals  IBM and SAP.

In October, BEA's board of directors had argued that Oracle's $17 per share offer "significantly undervalues" the company and proposed a sale at $21 per share, a price derided as "impossibly high" by Oracle.

Meanwhile, activist financier Carl Icahn, owner of an $820 million stake in the company, or almost 13 percent of outstanding shares, pressured BEA management to sell, but labeled Oracle's initial bid as too low.

Joint customers of Oracle and BEA had suggested the acquisition for more than three years, Oracle President Charles Phillips said in a statement. Aside from pushing the company's technology forward, he said the deal will "increase our penetration in key regions like China."

The acquisition, expected to close by mid-2008, is worth $7.2 billion net of BEA's cash on hand of $1.3 billion and is expected to add to Oracle's earnings in the first full year after closing, Oracle representatives said.

"This transaction is the culmination of that diligent and thoughtful process," BEA Chairman and Chief Executive Alfred Chuang said in a statement.