Microsoft and SAP considered merging
Published: 07 Jun 2004 16:35 BST
Microsoft and SAP initiated merger discussions late last year but broke off talks several months ago because of the complexity involved, according to statements issued by the software makers on Monday.
Microsoft said that information related to the merger talks will be raised during courtroom discussions in the Oracle-PeopleSoft trial, which begins on Monday. The information related to the merger talks was uncovered during pre-trial discovery process, the company said.
SAP said that Microsoft approached the company late last year to discuss the idea of a merger. "A few months ago, Microsoft ended these discussions due to the complexity of the potential transaction and subsequent integration. There are no intentions to resume these talks," according to a statement issued by Microsoft.
Shortly after the merger discussions ended, Microsoft and SAP announced that they would work more closely on integration of their software products using Web services. As part of that agreement, announced last month, the two companies said that they would also cross-license certain intellectual property.
"SAP, like all publicly held corporations, routinely evaluates potential opportunities to strengthen its leading position in the enterprise software market, and the disclosure made today should be interpreted this way," Henning Kagermann, SAP's chief executive, said in a statement.
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