Oracle to Buy ProfitLogic

Oracle Corp. said Tuesday that it had agreed to buy closely held ProfitLogic Inc., its second acquisition this year to increase sales of business programs used by retailers. Terms weren’t disclosed.

ProfitLogic’s software analyzes customer demand to help retailers make inventory, pricing and merchandise decisions, Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle said. ProfitLogic’s customers include Bloomingdale’s Inc. and Gap Inc.

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison won a bidding war with SAP in April for Retek Inc., paying $643.3 million for the Minneapolis-based maker of business management software for retailers. Oracle has more than 1,000 retail customers. That deal came after Ellison bought PeopleSoft Inc. in a $10.6-billion deal in January that vaulted Oracle to No. 2 in the overall market for business programs, behind SAP of Germany.

Cambridge, Mass.-based ProfitLogic has 250 employees, and most will join Oracle, Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne said.

ProfitLogic was founded in 1983 as TSI Consulting and renamed ProfitLogic when the company became a software maker, spokeswoman Jakki Glivicky said.

Shares of Oracle fell 2 cents to $13.27.