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Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA) rose 38 U.S. cents to $7.77 in morning trading Monday, after the business-to-business (B2B) software maker said that its president and chief operating officer Larry Mueller was named to the additional post of chief executive officer.
Mueller will also join the Mountain View, California-based company's board. Also named to the board was Masayoshi Son, president and chief executive officer of Softbank, the Japanese Internet investment company.
Mueller is taking the CEO reins from Keith Krach, who remains chairman. Krach said he will focus on customer contact and "collaborating on board level strategy and the direction of the company."
Mueller, who joined Ariba in October 1999, has been president and COO since January 2000.
With the Internet boom running out of steam, Ariba has seen its stock price decline from a 52-week high of $173.50. Earlier this month, company shares plunged following news of losses and layoffs and the cancellation of a planned acquisition.
The company said at the time that the moves were designed to deal with a drop in demand for e-commerce software as customers cut back on spending.
Ariba, like other companies who have seen their market values fall, is being sued by some shareholders who allege the company failed to disclose material information.
Nevertheless, as its loss widened, Ariba managed a 126 percent year-over-year increase in revenue for the second quarter ended March 31st.
In a separate news release Monday, Ariba said that 38 customers started using its services in the first quarter, bringing the total to more than 440.
Clorox, John Deere and Israel's Bezeq-Zahav were among those signing on to
use the Ariba Buyer B2B software, the company said.
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