SAP Acquires Experience Management Player Qualtrics In Multi-Billion Dollar Deal
Enterprise software giant SAP has has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire experience management software provider Qualtrics.
Under the terms of the agreement, SAP will acquire all outstanding shares of Qualtrics for US$8 billion in cash. The purchase price includes unvested employee incentive compensation and cash on the balance sheet at close.
Subject to customary closing conditions and attainment of regulatory clearances, the acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
The boards of directors of SAP and Qualtrics have approved the transaction, as well as Qualtrics’ shareholders.
Following the closing of the transaction, Qualtrics is expected to maintain its leadership, personnel, branding and culture, operating as an entity within SAP’s Cloud Business Group.
Ryan Smith will continue to lead Qualtrics, and the company is expected to continue to maintain dual headquarters in Utah and Washington.
SAP chief executive Bill McDermott said: “We continually seek out transformational opportunities – today’s announcement is exactly that.
“Together, SAP and Qualtrics represent a new paradigm, similar to market-making shifts in personal operating systems, smart devices and social networks.
“SAP already touches 77 per cent 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.”
McDermott said the combination of Qualtrics and SAP reaffirms experience management as the ground-breaking new frontier for the technology industry.
“SAP and Qualtrics are seizing this opportunity as like-minded innovators, united in mission, strategy and culture. We share the belief that every human voice holds value, every experience matters and that the best-run businesses can make the world run better.
“We can’t wait to stand beside Ryan and his amazing colleagues for the next chapters in the experience management story. The best for Qualtrics and SAP is yet to come.”
Smith said: “Our mission is to help organisations deliver the experiences that turn their customers into fanatics, employees into ambassadors, products into obsessions and brands into religions.
“Supported by a global team of over 95,000, SAP will help us scale faster and achieve our mission on a broader stage. This will put the XM Platform everywhere overnight.
“We could not be more excited to join forces with Bill and the SAP team in this once-in-a-generation opportunity to power the experience economy.”
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