SAP ends pointless M&A roundtrip with Qualtrics

Qualtrics International

07/03/2023 12:13

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are her own.)
    By Karen Kwok
       LONDON, March 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $150 bln
software giant may sell its stake to Silver Lake. A $12 bln
valuation implies mediocre returns for SAP, which bought the
survey group in 2018. The buyout firm may struggle to put much
debt on the target, crimping its profit, but it looks like a
more logical owner.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    Follow @karenkkwok on Twitter
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    Online-survey software maker Qualtrics International on
March 6 said it had received a $12.4 billion offer from private
equity firm Silver Lake Management and the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board.
    The offer values Qualtrics at $18.15 per share, a premium of
nearly 62% to the stock's closing price on Jan. 25, the day
before SAP announced its intention to sell its controlling stake
in Qualtrics. 
    SAP paid $8 billion in cash for Qualtrics in 2018, and
subsequently offloaded a minority stake through an initial
public offering in 2021.

 (Editing by Liam Proud and Streisand Neto)
 ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  KWOK/ 
SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS https://bit.ly/BVsubscribe
 | karen.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
karen.kwok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))