SAP to buy BOBJ - the biggest acquisition ever.

Below excerpts from the least anticipated acquisition in BI (IMO).

SAP's buying BOBJ! Full article here

SAP, the big German software company, has agreed to buy Business Objects, a leader in the fast-growing market for business intelligence software, for $6.8 billion.

In its most recent quarter, Business Objects reported a 23 percent increase in sales, to $363 million, while profits rose 68 percent to $66 million.

John Schwarz, the chief executive of Business Objects, said in the conference call that 40 percent of his company's customers were also SAP customers. "We have a tremendous opportunity to align and package solutions together," he said.

The $18 billion-a-year business intelligence market is increasingly moving into the hands of larger companies.

Business Objects was the largest of the publicly traded business intelligence companies, which include Cognos and MicroStrategy. There are also a few significant privately held business intelligence software companies, and SAS, headquartered in Cary, N.C., is by far the largest.