Large acquisitions of technology firms don't tend to go without a few hitches. Marrying complex product sets can test the resolve of even the most determined companies.

But when PeopleSoft chairman Craig Conway announced in early June a deal with JD Edwards to buy out the rival firm, he might have thought that he'd have more than a few hours before the problems began.

Conway obviously hadn't reckoned on the intervention of his former boss, Larry Ellison, at Oracle.

Never one to sit quietly on the sidelines, Ellison decided that he couldn't let the deal go through unopposed, and promptly launched his own counter bid for PeopleSoft.

Since then it has been a maelstrom of claims, counterclaims, lawsuits, revised offers and speculation. Follow the latest machinations in our Special Report.