Oracle Completes Retek Acquisition

Oracle has now acquired 94% of Retek Inc. stock, effectively completing its acquisition of the retailing software vendor on Tuesday, according to Oracle president Charles Phillips.

Oracle had purchased 5.5 million shares of Retek on the open market before launching its tender offer March 9, and received an additional 48 million shares on Monday as a result of the offer, which expired 5 p.m. Eastern time on April 11.

Oracle will form a separate Retail Global Business Unit to bring Retek retailing applications to market quickly, Phillips said in a statement to the press. With a separate unit, "we will be able to maintain the specialization of Retek's employee base and quickly go to market in the retail sector," he said.

Oracle made the acquisition to better compete with applications producer SAP, which made two bids to acquire Retek itself, driving the price from $8.50 a share to $11.25. SAP already offers retailing applications.

According to Oracle, Retek built its retailing applications using JDeveloper and other Oracle development tools, and Oracle and Retek have enjoyed a strong partnership since 1986.