Oracle is still gunning to wrap up its Sun Micro purchase by the end of summer, despite the US Department of Justice refusing to give the deal fast-track approval.

It emerged on Friday that the DoJ has extended its investigation of the $7.4bn deal, which would unite enterprise software power house Oracle with Java creator and sometime server contender Sun.

According to Reuters, an Oracle attorney said the two sides were 'almost able to resolve everything' ahead of the agency's decision to extend its investigation.

However, the attorney confirmed that the hold-up centred on questions over the licensing of Java. Arguably, this is the last thing Oracle would want to pop up as a stumbling block. Getting control of Java is at the heart of the deal.

Earlier this month it emerged that Oracle is actively shopping the hardware business around. ®