Stock of e-business software company Oracle Corp. “The world will end up with a few giant B2B exchanges — this is one of “This agreement complements our efforts to be the financial services engine Oracle is on a roll; just yesterday it announced the December launch of a was up about
10 percent this morning after it signed a multi-faceted deal with financial services giant
Citigroup .
The deal will integrate Citibank payment and settlement technology into
e-marketplace applications, and also covers a number of other fronts.
The announcement comes a day after Citigroup
reaffirmed its commitment to the Internet by launching an online
brokerage and redesigning its online banking operation.
Citigroup said it intends to integrate Citibank’s payment and settlement
capabilities into Oracle’s market exchange; transact Citigroup’s internal
spending through Oracle’s open marketplace OracleExchange.com; implement the
Oracle Internet Procurement solution worldwide; and market OracleExchange.com
services to its corporate client base.
Financial arrangements were not disclosed, but the deal clearly is a coup for
Oracle. The company’s stock was up $2.60 in early trading to $27.37 — a boost of more than 10 percent. Citigroup shares were up $1, or 2 percent, to $51.50 in the early going.
The agreement also calls for Citigroup to embed its financial services into
Oracle technology, including OracleExchange.com, using Citibank’s CitiConnect
integrated financial solution that allows B2B participants to initiate
settlement for goods and
services online, at the time of the transaction.
them,” said Larry Ellison, chairman and CEO of Oracle. “Citigroup and its 100
million customers form the nucleus of a B2B exchange that should become one
of the first of these global giants.”
on B2B marketplaces,” said Jorge Bermudez, executive vice president of
Citibank e-Business.
“Our customers will benefit from having access to Oracle’s one-stop
e-marketplace that automates the entire purchasing lifecycle, from obtaining
product information through to settlement and payment.”
Citigroup was also named the first “strategic affiliate” in the new
OracleExchange.com Affiliate Program. Citigroup will utilize
OracleExchange.com, Oracle’s global B2B marketplace.
next-generation Internet appliance based on the Oracle9I Application Server
and the Compaq ProLiant DL360 ultra thin 2-way server for management of
heavily-trafficked or fast-growing
Web sites.
Oracle, Citigroup Team Up
