SAP, a German-based European multinational software corporation has announced that it has acquired Qualtrics International, a global pioneer of the experience management software in an US $ 8 billion deal. This initiative is aimed to strengthen SAP’s offering in the customer relationship management sector.
Based in Utah, western United States, Qualtrics collects data on customer, brand, employee and products such as email, social media post and in -app data to give companies an insight of what their customers feel or think about them.
Combining the Qualtrics data analysis capabilities with SAP’s operation data, will enable the two to deliver a seamless business experience.
“Together, SAP and Qualtrics represent a new paradigm, similar to market-making shifts in personal operating systems, smart devices and social networks,” claims, SAP CEO Bill McDermott.
For the agreement SAP has secured financing in the amount of EUR 7 bn (US $ 7.89 bn) to cover purchase price and acquisition-related costs. The purchase price includes employee incentive compensation and cash on the balance sheet at close.
“SAP already touches 77% of the world’s transactions. When you combine our operational data with Qualtrics’ experience data, we will accelerate the XM category with an end-to-end solution with immediate global scale. For Qualtrics, this introduces a dynamic new partner with the belief, passion and scale to bring experience management to millions of customers around the world,” added Bill.
Subject to customary closing conditions and attainment of regulatory clearances, the acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
