Content Acquisitions Send i2 Higher

i2 Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITWO) gained 3 9/16 to 60 1/8 Thursday afterthe company said it plans to buy Trade Services Holdings’ content divisionsfor cash and stock.

i2, which provides business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce software, said itwill acquire Trade Service Corp. and its ec-Content, Inc. affiliate in orderto expand upon a pair of content acquisitions made earlier this year fromAspect Development and SupplyBase.

i2 said it will pay US$5 million in cash and issue 2.3 million of its commonshares for the two companies, with the price dependent upon i2’s tradingprice, and less liabilities of the companies being acquired.

“These additions further enhance Infinite Content’s strategic vision ofleading the market with the most comprehensive business-to-business (B2B)marketplace content solutions,” i2 said.

Trade Service provides information on 5.2 million items to a subscriber baseof 24,000 North American manufacturers, suppliers, distributors andcontractors.

Ec-content, formed by Trade Service in July 1999, develops and managescontent for digital marketplaces, e-procurement and supplier syndication.

“We believe the true value of e-marketplaces is predicated on the richnessof information contained within them and the scope of choices and servicesoffered,” said Tim Leisman, executive vice president and general manager forInfinite Content. i2, he said, has been “extremely successful” in providingsuch services to companies including Boeing, IBM and Siemens.

Anthony Dubreville, chief executive officer of Trade Service and ec-Content,will continue to direct operations of the two companies after theacquisition.

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