SAP's shares could fall following news of acquisition

Shares in financial software business SAP looked set to begin trading at 1.6% lower than yesterday on today's markets, after it made a $5.8bn (£3.9bn) bid for Sybase, a smaller rival.

The fall was predicted by pre-market data from brokers, Reuters.com reported.

Analysts believe an acquisition will allow SAP to catch up to its rivals although, some doubt was cast over whether the German software giant would make full use of the acquired company's resources.

"SAP does not have the most stellar history of buying companies and then maximising its investments in the technologies it has acquired," analyst Jack Gold at J.Gold Associates told the publication.

California based Sybase allows users to access business software through mobile devices such as smartphones.

SAP's American arm made the cash offer for outstanding shares of Sybase at $65.00 per share, with an approximate total of $5.8bn.

The money is to be raised through SAP's "cash on hand" and a €2.75bn (£2.34bn) loan underwritten by Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank.

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