Retail information system supplier JDA Software Group Inc has signed an agreement to acquire Lombard, Illinois-based LIOCS Corp in a move to improve its retail merchandising application. JDA will introduce LIOCS’s warehousing and distribution application, Perspective, into its Open DataBase Merchandising System, adding functionality the company has been wanting to introduce for some time, but was unsure as to the best way to implement it. The acquisition of LIOCS has been on the cards since January and is now operating as a wholly owned JDA subsidiary company. The LIOCS name will remain for the time being and will continue to be affiliated with its products. There will be no lay-offs as a result of the purchase, The 25 LIOCS staff, the majority of whom are developers, will remain at their office outside of Chicago, contributing to JDA’s expansion plans. JDA’s marketing communications manager Maureen Tuskai said, It’s been our intention and goal to grow JDA anyway, so having new staff who are already trained has worked out nicely. The database merchandising system is aimed at retailers across the world to address management and operational needs for inventory control, sales tracking, merchandise stock control, analysis and financial management. LIOCS was established in 1972 and has several other product lines aside from Perspective, which it says it will continue to maintain and enhance, but Tuskai said it was unlikely it would be developing any new products. Phoenix, Arizona-based JDA was established in 1985 and last year purchased Calgary, Alberta company JDA Software Services Ltd (CI No 2,981) to form the company’s first Canadian office. The company also has offices in the UK, Germany, Australia, Chile, Mexico and Singapore.
