Oracle Faces Tricky Timing With Mega-Bond Sale for Cerner Deal

Oracle Corp. may raise as much as $20 billion in investment-grade bonds to help fund its acquisition of Cerner Corp. But the timing of that debt sale could be a lot harder to predict now that the sensitive new-issue market has just come to another standstill.

The software company used a $15.7 billion bridge facility earlier this month to fund its purchase of Cerner, according to a filing. Such loans are typically replaced by long-term financing in the bond market, and strong earnings reported by Oracle on Monday would normally be good to pivot off.

Those earnings, however, have ...