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Oracle extends B2B reach
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March 8, 2000: 7:31 p.m. ET
Database software vendor forms online exchange with Chevron, Wal-Mart
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Database software maker Oracle on Wednesday said it was joining with Chevron and a division of Wal-Mart to form a new business-to-business e-commerce company aimed at the convenience store industry.
The move is the latest in a string of alliances Oracle has formed recently in the blossoming B2B e-commerce industry. Late last month, Oracle joined a B2B Web alliance with Sears. The company's technology also is playing a key role in a combined B2B e-commerce venture being undertaken by the Big Three U.S. automakers.
In this latest deal, Oracle's Oracle's (ORCL: Research, Estimates) electronic-business platform will be used to link convenience stores with their suppliers in combination with Chevron's (CHV: Research, Estimates) existing retail Internet business plan and the convenience-store distribution network of Wal-Mart's (WMT: Research, Estimates) McAllen Co. subsidiary, the largest convenience store distributor in the U.S.
"These powerful online exchanges mark a turning point for whole industries racing to leverage the Internet for real economic gain in the new economy," said Lawrence Ellison, Oracle's chairman and chief executive.
The new company, called RetailersMarketXchange.com, is expected to begin operations this summer, and each of the three joint-venture partners will hold equity stakes in the company.
In an interview on CNNfn Wednesday, Ellison said that while the underlying technology is the same as that being used in its other B2B efforts, the nature of the convenience-store market is very different. [262K WAV or 262K AIFF]
Executives said they hope to be able to use the new platform to make the highly fragmented convenience-store supply-chain more efficient. Grady Rosier, McLane's president and chief executive, said that moving its operations over to the Web is part of an "evolutionary process," which he expects to fundamentally change the way convenience stores do business.
"We firmly believe this alliance ... will dynamically impact the future in e-commerce for our retail partners," he said. "While we are likely to see many announcements regarding portal and vortal (vertical portal) initiatives, RetailersMarketXchange.com will be in the marketplace effectively improving efficiencies for all of our retailers."
The new company will initially focus on convenience store retailers, such as Chevron's service station stores. But it could later be expanded to other types of small to medium-sized businesses, executives said.
Shares of Oracle rose nearly 11 percent on the news, adding 8-3/16 to 83-1/8 in heavy-volume Nasdaq trade. Meanwhile, Chevron edged up 1/16 to 81-1/16, and Wal-Mart rose 3/4, or 1.6 percent, to 48-5/16 on the New York Stock Exchange. 
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