Oracle, Chevron, Wal-Mart In Online Pact
(03/08/00, 4:33 p.m. ET)
By Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle, the leading database software maker, will join with Chevron and a division of Wal-Mart Stores in creating an online marketplace for the convenience-store industry, the companies said on Wednesday.
The exchange will link convenience stores to suppliers, using Oracle's electronic-business platform, Chevron's existing retail Internet business plan and the convenience-store distribution network of Wal-Mart's McLane Co., the companies said in a joint statement.
"These powerful online exchanges mark a turning point for whole industries racing to leverage the Internet for real economic gain in the new economy," Oracle CEO and chairman Lawrence Ellison said.
The deal is latest in which Oracle's technology was selected for a business-to-business network involving large retailers, after a venture announced last month with Sears Roebuck and Co., the No. 2 U.S. retailer, and France's Carrefour Supermarche.
Oracle stock shot up after the news, rising 8 1/16 to 83 in late Nasdaq market trade, to its highest in at least 12 months. Wal-Mart shares were up 1 8/16 to 49 1/16 on the New York Stock Exchange, and Chevron slipped 1/2 to 81 1/2.
The three companies would each hold equity interest in the company, to be named RetailersMarketXchange.com. The new marketplace is expected to start up during the summer.
While the project would originally focus on convenience store retailers, such as Chevron's service station stores, it could later be expanded to other types of small to medium-sized businesses. |
