In a statement, Oracle said it will acquire Retek at a price of $11.25 for each outstanding Retek share. SAP, which had offered $11.00 per share for Retek, has dropped out of the bidding.

Oracle is determined to buy application developer Retek from under SAP's nose because it is worried that the German firm could rewrite Retek's applications and make them less friendly for Oracle ...

As SAP and Oracle slug it out over acquiring Retek, a retail application software vendor, the real story is obviously not about who wins the prize but what’s inside the box.