Oracle to acquire Demantra

Oracle announced Thursday plans to acquire Demantra, a 10-year-old company that develops supply-chain planning applications.

Demantra's Spectrum Suite, for example, is designed to handle tasks such as retail planning and replenishment of inventory in stores, as well as real-time sales and operation planning.

The acquisition is expected to not only help Oracle expand its supply-chain applications business, but also to help it focus more intently on particular industries. Waltham, Mass.-based Demantra recently landed customer C&S Wholesale Grocers, the second largest wholesale grocer in the U.S. It also counts as customers McCain Foods, Korbel and Welch's.

Oracle, which has been on an aggressive acquisition path, is battling archrival SAP for dominance in the business applications industry.

With Oracle's pending acquisition, SAP will likely lose Demantra as one of its Powered By SAP NetWeaver partners.

The Demantra acquisition is expected to close by month's end. Financial terms were not disclosed.