July 5, 2005

Oracle Buys ProfitLogic

By Evan Schuman, Ziff Davis Internet

Trying to strengthen its retail technology position, Oracle Corp. Tuesday purchased ProfitLogic Inc., a small but well-positioned retail software company.

The acquisition comes only a few months after Oracle's takeover of Retek Inc. Both Retek and ProfitLogic counted some high-profile retail companies among their customers. ProfitLogic's 30 customers included Bloomingdale's, Macy's, JC Penney, Nordstrom, Toys R Us, Marshall Fields, The Gap and Ann Taylor.

Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

The retail profit optimization trend is crucial to today's retailer, said Scott Friend, co-founder and president of ProfitLogic, during a news conference Tuesday evening. "No one can out-efficiency Wal-Mart," Friend said. "The only way to [beat Wal-Mart] is through better customer intimacy."

Oracle officials said the combined Oracle operation—including Retek, ProfitLogic, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft—now has about 1,900 retail customers.

Duncan Angove, general manager of Oracle's Retek Global Business Unit and a former Retek executive, told reporters that the move will make Oracle a difficult company to compete against, especially for a firm such as SAP AG.

"ProfitLogic's software provides analysis that helps retailers put the right product, in the right store, for the right customer, at the right time," Angove said in a statement.