SAP has no
interest in acquiring
BEA
Systems and will not launch a bid rivalling
Oracle's
$6.7bn offer.
SAP chief executive Henning Kagermann told
The
Financial Times on Monday that the firm is interested only in "
complementary deals" that allow it to expand into new markets.
A combination of SAP and BEA would have too much overlap, according to
Kagermann.
SAP agreed
earlier this
month to acquire
Business
Objects, a firm specialising in business intelligence. Investors have
expressed fears that Oracle could attempt to derail the transaction by
outbidding SAP.
Anne Thomas Manes, a research director with analyst firm
Burton
Group, argued that a SAP bidding war is unlikely. "BEA does not really offer
much to SAP," she wrote on a
company
blog.
"BEA has a few nice bits that SAP could exploit: AquaLogic Data Services,
AquaLogic Enterprise Security, the SIP server extension to WebLogic Server, and
the Workshop tooling. But these certainly are not worth [more than] $7bn to SAP.
"
BEA has turned
down Oracle's offer, claiming that the figure undervalues the company. The
two have exchanged several letters, suggesting that Oracle might have to launch
a hostile takeover bid.
BEA's valuation jumped to $7.2bn after Oracle launched its bid, indicating
that investors expect Oracle to further raise its offer.
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