Oracle to Acquire Art Technology for $1 Billion

Oracle fed its voracious appetite for acquisitions Tuesday, announcing plans to snap up e-commerce software maker Art Technology Group in a $1 billion deal. Art Technology's (ARTG) e-commerce platform is expected to tie into Oracle's (ORCL) customer relationship management software (CRM), as well as its other offerings.

Under the deal, Oracle will pay $6 per share in cash, a 46.3% premium over Art Technology's closing price on Monday. The transaction is expected to close by the early part of next year.

Thomas Kurian, Oracle executive vice president of development, said in a statement:

Driven by the convergence of online and traditional commerce and the need to increase revenue and improve customer loyalty, organizations across many industries are looking for a unified commerce and CRM platform to provide a seamless experience across all commerce channels.

The acquisition of Art Technology will also raise the competitive stakes between Oracle and rival Salesforce.com (CRM), a pioneer in online CRM applications and software as a service. Oracle plans to also use Art Technology's e-commerce software across its retail, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain applications,

Oracle's Art Technology deal is its latest billion-dollar splurge, following on the heels of its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems last year.