Sun Microsystems Inc, announced from Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, an open source icon and developer of one of world’s fastest growing open source databases for approximately $1 billion in total consideration.

The acquisition accelerates Sun’s position in enterprise IT to now include the $15 billion database market, the company said. This move reaffirms Sun’s position as leading provider of platforms for the Web economy and its role as the largest commercial open source contributor.  With millions of global deployments including Facebook, Google, Nokia, Baidu and China Mobile, MySQL will bring synergies to Sun that will change the landscape of the software industry by driving new adoption of MySQL's open source database in more traditional applications and enterprises.

The integration with Sun will greatly extend the commercial appeal of MySQL's offerings and improve its value proposition with the addition of Sun's global services organization. MySQL will also gain new distribution through Sun's channels including its OEM relationships with Intel, IBM and Dell.

Extreme efficiency

“Wednesday’s acquisition reaffirms Sun’s position at the centre of global Web economy. Supporting our overall growth plan, acquiring MySQL amplifies our investments in the technologies demanded by those driving extreme growth and efficiency, from Internet media titans to the world's largest traditional enterprises,” said Sun Microsystems President & CEO Jonathan Schwartz.