SAP to acquire survey software maker Qualtrics for $8bn
Enterprise software company, SAP, has agreed to acquire Qualtrics for $8bn in cash, just before its planned IPO.
The deal will be SAP’s second-biggest acquisition, followings its $8.3bn purchase of Concur in 2014.
Qualtrics provides experience data and insights using its products such as survey software.
This enables its enterprise users to gauge customer sentiment and employee engagement, for instance.
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In a statement, SAP said that by blending this experience data with SAP’s operational data, customers will be able to “better manage supply chains, networks, employees and core processes.”
SAP CEO Bill McDermott said: “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% 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.”
By leveraging SAP’s more than 413,000 customers, Qualtrics said that the deal will help it accelerate its growth globally.
Qualtrics says it expects its full-year 2018 revenue to exceed $400mn.
Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtrics, added: “Our mission is to help organizations 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.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
