SAP ink $2.4 billion agreement to acquire CallidusCloud

SAP's American division has entered into a $2.4 billion agreement to acquire CallidusCloud, a US cloud-based lead to money (quote-to-cash) solutions company.

The CallidusCloud board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction, with SAP offering a per-share purchase price of $36.00, representing a 21% premium over the 30-day volume weighted average price-per-share.

SAP has elected to fund the transaction with existing cash balances and an acquisition term loan.

SAP says the acquisition gives them immediate leadership in the lead to money space, which includes sales performance management (SPM) and configure-price-quote (CPQ), with a solution stack that incorporates sales enablement, sales analytics and customer engagement.

SAP CEO Bill McDermott says the acquisition is instrumental in SAPs plan to 'reinvent the front office'.

"SAP is connecting the back office to the front office in this consumer-driven growth revolution. Our customers are focused on reinventing sales, service, marketing, and commerce," McDermott says.

"The addition of CallidusCloud aligns perfectly with SAP's innovation strategy to transform the front office. SAP gives CallidusCloud the global scale to accelerate its already impressive growth. These two strong companies will be better together, help the world run better and improve people's lives.

SAP expects CallidusCloud to be a synergistic addition to their portfolio, significantly strengthening the company's position in the CRM space.

The CallidusCloud solution stack is designed for 'on-the-ground' salespeople and links sales-related information - such as pricing, incentives, and commissions - to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Thus, SAP says CallidusCloud will enable them to seamlessly link front and back offices, align sales, compensation and corporate goals, and ensure real-time data flow between the field and finance department.

CallidusCloud CEO Leslie Stretch says, "We are super excited to join forces with SAP,

"This move gives customers precisely what they want, the market leading Sales Performance (SPM), Sales Execution (CPQ) and Sales Enablement clouds combined with SAP Hybris and S/4HANA.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018, subject to approval from CallidusCloud stockholders, clearances by the relevant regulatory authorities, and other customary closing conditions.