SAP Buys SuccessFactors

It’s no small bit of change that German software giant SAP shelled out for SuccessFactors over the weekend: $3.4 billion.

Analysts contend the price is very high, but it’s a wise decision by SAP. According to a Reuters report, DZ Bank analyst Oliver Finger says that “SuccessFactors could be a very good strategic fit for SAP in the cloud sector.”

SAP is paying $40 a share for SuccessFactors, a U.S. Web-based services company. That’s a 52 percent premium.

"We think it's the right price. What we've seen in the past is [that] SAP has been pursuing positions where synergies come from the top line, and we see that happening here as well," SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann-Snabe told CNBC.

 “The depth and experience that SAP brings to customers via our cloud and on-premise portfolio fit elegantly with SuccessFactors’ world-class expertise in providing high-performing, low-cost, native cloud applications that customers are passionate about,” says SAP Hagemann-Snabe. “Together, we will lead the industry in providing end-to-end solutions consistently to meet any deployment preference, whether on premise, in the cloud, or on device.”

The deal can help SAP catch up with rivals — including Oracle — in cloud computing.

Oracle purchased RightNow Technologies in October. While Oracle paid about 5.5 times RightNow’s forecast 2012 revenues, SAP is paying about eight times that for SuccessFactors’ forecast 2012 revenues.

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