Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison hopes the offer will clinch the deal

The bid is higher than Oracle's previous $7.7bn offer and marks the latest twist in one of the fiercest takeover battles in recent US history.

Oracle said the revised offer was its "final" bid and it has set a deadline of 19 November for shareholders to accept it or it will abandon the bid.

Peoplesoft's shares soared on the news of the new offer, rising 10% to $22.90.

No action

Oracle's shares also rose 13 cents to $12.79.

Peoplesoft said its board would discuss the offer and urged its shareholders to take no immediate action.

Our best and final offer is $24 a share Jeffrey Hanley, Oracle

The revised offer, Oracle's fifth in the past 17 months, comes just a week after Oracle's bid was given the green light by the European Competition.

The US government originally objected to the deal but was overruled by a US federal court.

"Our best and final offer is $24 per share, which we believe represents a substantial premium to the price at which those shares would trade were it not for Oracle's offer," said Oracle chairman Jeffrey Henley.

Four rejections

Peoplesoft has snubbed Oracle, its rival in the business software market, four times since it was orginally approached about a takeover in June 2003.

The two companies are currently involved in a bitter legal dispute about measures which Peoplesoft has taken to protect itself against a takeover.

The company has doubled the number of its shares in circulation, making it more expensive for any suitor to purchase them.

It has also insisted that any buyer should continue to offer full technical support to its customers or face compensation claims worth up to five times the original price of the Peoplesoft products they bought.

Oracle has argued that such actions are illegal and unnecessarily punitive.