SAP has finished its acquisition of Sybase. For those out of the business software loop, back in May of this year, SAP announced its intent to purchase Sybase. They bought up all available common stock at $65 a share, which equated to about $5.8 billion in total. This acquisition was finalized on July 30. What’s more exciting, however, is SAP and Sybase’s unveiling last week. Leaders of the company met with select customers in Boston, MA and Frankfurt, Germany. You can watch the SAP/Sybase press briefing yourself. But be forewarned: it is somewhat lengthy—clocking in at almost ninety minutes. Most of the points discussed seemed quite positive to the industry and their customers.

While this acquisition comes as a surprise to many, SAP has talked about its plans to enter the mobile device market for the past few years, but without commenting exactly how this was to be done. Many speculated jumping in head-first would be disastrous, and the only logical solution would be through an outside party. Sybase, although arguably the leader in mobile device innovation, seemed an unlikely candidate. With the acquisition of Business Objects only a couple years ago, another one so soon seemed just as unlikely.

SAP hasn’t built itself up on missed trends and lost opportunities, mind you. With the Mobile Age following right behind the Digital Age, companies are restructuring to take advantage of this new frontier. SAP wasn’t going to stand idly by and lose the race. So, what better way to compete in a growing market than to buy the market’s leader? It stands to reason that SAP couldn’t afford to miss this chance and perhaps had to be a little more aggressive this time around.

The good news for us consumers is that, unlike Business Objects, SAP is leaving Sybase completely independent and self-sufficient.

Comments are closed.