Sterling Commerce to acquire order management software provider Comergent

Sterling Commerce, a provider of web-based software that helps retailers connect with both consumers and suppliers, has agreed to acquire order management software company Comergent Technologies Inc. for $155 million in cash, Sterling said.

“Comergent provides an enterprise suite of applications for managing selling and order management processes with customers and partners that will help Sterling Commerce act swiftly and broadly on some of our customers’ most pressing needs,” says Samuel Starr, president and CEO of Sterling Commerce. “By integrating Comergent’s eBusiness Application Suite into our multi-channel order fulfillment software, we plan to offer a modular end-to-end solution for the challenges that customers historically have handled through a complex and costly mix of point solutions.”

Sterling, a unit of AT&T Inc., already offers front-end order management software through its 2004 acquisition of Yantra Corp., but Comergent will offer expanded order management capabilities and the ability to connect with suppliers to support fulfillment of orders that include multiple products sourced from multiple distribution centers and vendors, says Joel Reed, vice president of global product marketing. “The focus here for Sterling is working with companies to solve complex order management problems on the order-capture side and the order fulfillment side when their customers want specific versions of products,” Reed says.

For example, adding Comergent to Sterling’s suite of applications supports retailers who let customers configure products with multiple components that may be sourced from multiple warehouses and suppliers. As such orders are placed online, the Comergent software improves the retailer’s ability to show which components are available in current inventory across multiple distribution centers and vendors, Reed says.

“Both Comergent and Sterling Commerce share a vision for seamless supply chain execution—and today, the reality is that enterprises must sell broader offerings and reach new markets to grow their business and remain competitive,” says Jean Kovacs, president and CEO of Comergent.