SAP Announces Intent to Take Qualtrics Public

Rhea-AI Summary

SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) announced its plan to take Qualtrics public through an IPO in the U.S. SAP intends to maintain majority ownership while enhancing Qualtrics' ability to grow within the Experience Management market. CEO Christian Klein noted that Qualtrics has seen over 40% cloud growth in 2019, promising strong performance. The IPO aims to provide Qualtrics with greater autonomy for expansion and innovation. Final decisions on the IPO are pending market conditions, but SAP does not expect the transaction to impact its 2020 financial targets.

Positive

• Qualtrics demonstrated over 40% cloud growth in 2019.
• SAP will retain majority ownership, ensuring stability.
• The IPO aims to enhance Qualtrics' market potential.

Negative

• None.

WALLDORF, Germany, July 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced its intent to take Qualtrics public through an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. Qualtrics is the market leader and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, a large, fast growing and rapidly evolving market. SAP intends to remain the majority owner of Qualtrics. SAP's primary objective for the IPO is to fortify Qualtrics' ability to capture its full market potential within Experience Management. This will help to increase Qualtrics' autonomy and enable it to expand its footprint both within SAP's customer base and beyond.  

"SAP's acquisition of Qualtrics has been a great success and has outperformed our expectations with 2019 cloud growth in excess of 40%, demonstrating very strong performance in the current setup," SAP CEO Christian Klein said. "As Ryan Smith, Zig Serafin and I worked together, we decided that an IPO would provide the greatest opportunity for Qualtrics to grow the experience management category, serve its customers, explore its own acquisition strategy, and continue building the best talent. SAP will remain Qualtrics' largest and most important go-to-market and research and development (R&D) partner while giving Qualtrics greater independence to broaden its base by partnering and building out the entire experience management ecosystem."  

Qualtrics, which is part of SAP's cloud portfolio, has operated with greater autonomy than other companies SAP had previously acquired. The founder and current management team of Qualtrics will continue to operate the company. 

"When we launched the Experience Management category, our goal was always to help as many organizations as possible leverage the XM Platform as a system of action," Qualtrics founder Ryan Smith said. "SAP is an incredible partner with unprecedented global reach, and we couldn't be more excited about continuing the partnership. This will allow us to continue building out the XM ecosystem across a broad array of partners." 

SAP agreed to acquire Qualtrics just four days before Qualtrics was to go public in 2018, recognizing the potential of bringing together experience and operational data (X+O) to help organizations take action. SAP currently owns 100% of Qualtrics shares. SAP will retain majority ownership of Qualtrics and has no intention of spinning off or otherwise divesting its majority ownership interest. Ryan Smith intends to be Qualtrics' largest individual shareholder. 

SAP is fully committed to Experience Management and the Qualtrics XM Platform™ as a key element of its Intelligent Enterprise Strategy. SAP will remain Qualtrics' closest and most important co-innovation and go-to-market partner.  

A final decision on the IPO and its conditions and timing is pending and subject to market conditions.  

Since SAP, as majority shareholder, will continue to fully consolidate Qualtrics, the transaction is not expected to have an impact on SAP's 2020 or longer-term financial targets.  

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews. 

About SAP 
SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As the market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP® system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.  

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SOURCE SAP SE

FAQ

What is SAP's intention with Qualtrics' IPO?

SAP plans to take Qualtrics public to enhance its growth potential in the Experience Management market while retaining majority ownership.

When did SAP acquire Qualtrics?

SAP acquired Qualtrics just four days before its planned IPO in 2018.

What growth did Qualtrics achieve in 2019?

Qualtrics experienced cloud growth exceeding 40% in 2019.

Will SAP's IPO of Qualtrics impact its financial targets?

SAP does not expect the IPO to impact its 2020 or long-term financial targets.

Who will continue operating Qualtrics after the IPO?

Qualtrics' founder and management team will continue to operate the company post-IPO.