SAP to gobble up Retek

Software giant SAP announced Monday that it has signed a merger agreement with retail application maker Retek in a deal valued at about $496 million.

SAP said it will pay $8.50 per share for Retek, a 42 percent premium over Retek's closing price Friday. This works out to roughly $496 million, the software maker said. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. It is expected to be completed in early April.

Retek, a Minneapolis-based maker of software for the retail business, has 525 employees and last year had revenue of $174.2 million. SAP said the integration of Retek products in its own suite will help it target a retail industry that has a newfound appetite for packaged software.

"Retek...will enable us to offer the most comprehensive solution in the industry, from the point of sale through the entire retail supply chain," SAP Chief Executive Henning Kagermann said in a statement.

Last month, SAP announced its acquisition of TomorrowNow, a software company that provides support services for products sold by the former PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards. The move was designed to attract customers after Oracle took over PeopleSoft.