'%20id='ico-down'%20stroke='%23000000'%20stroke-width='1.5'%3e%3cg%20transform='translate(1092.250000,%20254.750000)'%3e%3cpolyline%20id='Path-2-Copy-4'%20transform='translate(5.500000,%202.750000)%20scale(1,%20-1)%20rotate(-180.000000)%20translate(-5.500000,%20-2.750000)%20'%20points='0%200%205.5%205.5%2011%200'%3e%3c/polyline%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
22 March 2005
WALLDORF – German business software giant SAP AG shrugged off being outbid by Oracle for the Minneapolis-based software company Retek Inc. saying the price had gone too high to be justified to shareholders.
At SAP headquarters in Walldorf, company chairman Henning Kagermann said that “neither SAP investors nor current and future clients would have profited from any further bidding battle”.
His comment came after Oracle reached agreement to buy Retek, a maker of retail software, for about US$ 670 million (EUR 507 million), or US$ 11.25 (EUR 8.52) per share.
That price was some 25 cents above SAP’s last offer and well up on the initial US$ 8.50 price which SAP had offered when the bidding battle got underway in February.
Kagermann said SAP had hope to acquire Retek in order to build up its business with trading companies.
“However, this would have had to be at a price which would have inflicted no damage to SAP’s good financial performance,” he said.
The takeover of Retek is the second major bidding battle won by Oracle after the US$ 10.3 billion (EUR 7.8 billion) acquisition of the business software company PeopleSoft. Oracle is the world’s second-largest software concern after Microsoft.
Kagermann said that SAP regards its own market strength as being sufficient to compete in the business retail software sector, an area in which the German firm has steadily built up its market share against its competitors.
“You cannot buy this position in the world market, but rather you win it only through the trust of your customers and creation of added-value,” he said. “SAP is confident of being able to expand further on its strong market position.”
On the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, SAP shareholders showed no noticeable reaction to the developments. At mid-afternoon, SAP shares were down a scant 0.15 percent at EUR 119.91.
DPA
Subject: German news