By Siobhan Kennedy
Although supply-chain software vendor Manugistics Inc was due to release details of how it plans to get back on its feet today (CI No 3,570), the latest word has it that the company won’t be saying anything until early next week. A source close to Manugistics told ComputerWire yesterday that negotiations were still continuing and that an announcement could be expected very early next week. Chris Elliot, Manugistics’ marketing director, Northern Europe, said the company was still actively pursuing both options; namely that Manugistics would either go it alone and restructure internally or look for a possible buyer. Another possible outcome is what Elliot called a business combination whereby Manugistics wouldn’t be bought outright, rather it would combine with another company in a stock deal similar to that between IBM and Tivoli. Under their agreement, Tivoli still keeps its brand name and to all intents and purposes operates as a separate company. Last week, Elliot confirmed that the software vendor was in talks with two prospective buyers, although he said he did not know who the companies were. Industry reports favor Oracle Corp as the most popular contender, but other software giants, such as SAP, PeopleSoft, IBM and JD Edwards could also be in the running, analysts say.
