SAP America, Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire sales performance management and CPQ solution provider CallidusCloud for approximately $2.4 billion.
The acquisition will give SAP immediate leadership in the “Lead-to-Money” space, which includes sales performance management (SPM) and configure-price-quote (CPQ), according to the company. The combination of both companies’ assets will deliver a complete, end-to-end, fully cloud-based “Lead-to-Cash” offering.
CallidusCloud, combined with SAP’s solution portfolio, will also offer companies tools designed to enhance sales execution and transform customer engagement. The portfolio will be enhanced with sales planning and forecasting, territory management and pipeline management capabilities. SAP’s sales content management will also benefit from easy access to contracts, collateral and learning, according to SAP.
As part of SAP, CallidusCloud will link front and back offices, align sales, compensation and corporate goals, ensuring real-time data flow between the field and finance department, according to SAP.
“Our customers are focused on reinventing sales, service, marketing and commerce,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, in a statement. ” The addition of CallidusCloud aligns perfectly to 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.”
The announcement comes at a time when many analysts and experts in the B2B marketplace hinted that the industry would begin to see tech consolidation to promote future growth.
“This acquisition by SAP demonstrates there is still significant interest in a growing b2b Marketing Automation segment,” said Jon Russo, Founder of the B2B Fusion Group, in a comment to Demand Gen Report. “CallidusCloud acquired Leadformix, a marketing automation vendor, in 2012, and now SAP will augment its Hybris platform with the Leadformix capability. With recent changes to corporate U.S. tax code, we can expect 2018 to be a year where large companies like SAP look to acquire and consolidate more of the martech industry.”