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PeopleSoft said it has purchased about 88 percent of J.D. Edwards outstanding shares and expects to purchase the remaining shares of the company by the end of August.

"The powerful combination of PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards creates the second-largest enterprise applications software company in the world," said PeopleSoft Chief Executive Craig Conway in a statement.

PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards both create software that helps company manage accounting, inventory and human resources.

The deal adds another chapter to Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - News) CEO Larry Ellison's hostile bid to acquire PeopleSoft, which Oracle had initially launched just days after PeopleSoft announced its deal to buy J.D. Edwards.

But completion of the acquisition is unlikely to deter Ellison's overtures.

"Oracle remains committed to acquiring PeopleSoft -- even with the addition of J.D. Edwards," Jim Finn, an Oracle spokesman, said on Thursday in a prepared statement.

PeopleSoft said the acquisition is expected to add to earnings by 2004, excluding the writedown of deferred revenue and amortization.

J.D. Edwards stockholders will receive $14.74 in cash, PeopleSoft stock, or a combination of cash and stock for each share of J.D. Edwards common stock, said PeopleSoft in statement.

J.D. Edwards stockholders who did not tender their shares will receive $7.05 in cash plus 0.43 of a PeopleSoft common share for each J.D. Edwards share.

The company expects the exchange process to be completed by July 25.