Oracle has announced its second acquisition in two weeks with a deal that expands the vertical-sector expertise of Oracle's e-business software. Oracle has snapped up privately held G-Logic, a UK-based specialist in logistics and transportation management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The database and applications giant said that ownership of G-Logic would enable it to offer a comprehensive supply chain and logistics management portfolio.

The focus on logistics and transportation follows the highly publicized bidding war with enterprise resource planning (ERP) rival SAP for retail software specialist Retek and Oracle's decision in August to take a majority stake in India-based banking and financial services ISV I-flex.

G-Logic chief executive David Cairns said in a statement that the deal would enable Oracle to respond effectively to industry trends that are driving demand for complex logistics offerings.

As is the case with today's enterprise software M&As, the deal also serves up the buyer an impressive list of potential customers. G-Logic users include Tesco, Halliburton, Volvo and DuPont. Fifty per cent of G-Logic's customers already run Oracle applications, the database giant said, a number it expects will increase in size once the deal is completed.®