JDA Software may have to pay Dillard's $246M

SCOTTSDALE — JDA Software Group Inc. may have to pay department store operator Dillard's Inc. $246 million in a dispute over a software licensing agreement, the software company said Wednesday. Its shares tumbled almost 20 percent.

JDA, which makes which makes software that helps retailers manage inventory, said a Texas jury in state district court for Dallas County came down on the side of Dillard's in a ruling Tuesday.

Dillard's charged that JDA subsidiary i2 Technologies failed to meet its obligations under the licensing agreement.

Dillard's paid i2 about $8 million as a part of the licensing agreement. The other $238 million chunk was indirect or punitive damages, JDA said.

JDA said it is reviewing the decision and will seek to have it reversed.

"We believe this verdict is unjustified given the nature of this commercial dispute," JDA CEO Hamish Brewer said in a statement. "We will pursue every avenue available to overturn the verdict, and are confident that justice will ultimately prevail."

Dillard's, based in Little Rock, Ark., operates more than 300 Dillard's department stores and clearance centers spanning 29 states.

Shares of JDA Software Group fell $5.41, or 19.5 percent, to $22.29 in trading Wednesday, while Dillard's shares slipped 18 cents to $27.40.