SAP enters agreement to acquire Ariba

SAP AG and Ariba, Inc. today announced that SAP's subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire Ariba, the leading cloud-based business commerce network, for $45.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $4.3 billion.

The acquisition will combine Ariba's successful buyer-seller collaboration network with SAP's broad customer base and deep business process expertise to create new models for business-to-business collaboration in the cloud.

The Ariba board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction. The per share purchase price represents a 20% premium over the May 21 closing price and a 19% premium over the one month volume weighted average price per share. The transaction will be funded from SAP's free cash and a €2.4 billion term loan facility.

Subject to Ariba stockholder approval, clearances by relevant regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2012. The transaction is expected to be accretive to SAP's non-IFRS earnings per share in 2013.

SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, said, "Cloud-based collaboration is redefining business network innovation, and we are catching this wave in the early stage of its evolution. The addition of Ariba will create the business network of the future, deliver immediate value to our customers and provide another solid engine for driving SAP's growth in the cloud."

With the addition of Ariba, SAP will acquire the leader in cloud-based collaborative business commerce. The acquisition establishes SAP as the leading business network, adding business-to-business collaboration to its existing solutions. The move positions SAP in a fast-growing segment as buyers and sellers across the globe connect in new ways through the cloud.

For more information on cloud based computing, see the latest research: Cloud Computing Market

Follow us on Twitter @CandMResearch