PeopleSoft Inc.'s board unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the sweetened $26-a-share, $9.4 billion takeover bid from rival Oracle Corp., again saying the deal undervalues the business software company.

Last week, Oracle raised its hostile bid for the company by 33% to $26 a share from $19.50 a share.

The higher offer was seen as potentially heralding the end game for the long-running software-industry battle. Hostile bids in the high-technology industry are rare and the personally charged conflict between the two companies' chiefs has riveted the attention of observers in Silicon Valley.

Early Monday, the board of PeopleSoft said the new offer not only doesn't reflect the company's real value but also continues to face "significant" regulatory roadblocks in both the U.S. and Europe.

In the eight months since Oracle launched its hostile takeover effort with an offer of $16 a share, antitrust investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the European Commission and a number of state attorneys general have continued.

"The board continues to believe that the proposed combination of PeopleSoft and Oracle faces substantial antitrust scrutiny and the significant likelihood that the combination will be prohibited under antitrust law," PeopleSoft said in a release Monday.

Oracle's new offer came after PeopleSoft announced it will hold its annual shareholder meeting March 25, about two months earlier than usual.

Oracle's latest bid is more than 62% higher than the $16 a share it offered when it launched the takeover effort last June. "This is our final price," said Jeff Henley, Oracle's chief financial officer, in announcing the bid last week.

If the Justice Department lets the deal go forward, Oracle's sweetened bid could force PeopleSoft to the bargaining table. While Oracle's initial bid was considered low, the $26 offer is considered a more reasonable price that could be the starting point for friendly deal negotiations.