Henning Kagermann
SAP chief Henning Kagermann is 'not interested' in buying BEA

SAP stays out of BEA bidding war

Middleware vendor would have too much overlap, SAP argues

Written by Tom Sanders in California

SAP has no interest in acquiring BEA Systems and will not launch a bid rivalling Oracle's $6.7bn offer.

SAP chief executive Henning Kagermann told The Financial Times on Monday that the firm is interested only in " complementary deals" that allow it to expand into new markets.

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A combination of SAP and BEA would have too much overlap, according to Kagermann.

SAP agreed earlier this month to acquire Business Objects, a firm specialising in business intelligence. Investors have expressed fears that Oracle could attempt to derail the transaction by outbidding SAP.

Anne Thomas Manes, a research director with analyst firm Burton Group, argued that a SAP bidding war is unlikely. "BEA does not really offer much to SAP," she wrote on a company blog.

"BEA has a few nice bits that SAP could exploit: AquaLogic Data Services, AquaLogic Enterprise Security, the SIP server extension to WebLogic Server, and the Workshop tooling. But these certainly are not worth [more than] $7bn to SAP. "

BEA has turned down Oracle's offer, claiming that the figure undervalues the company. The two have exchanged several letters, suggesting that Oracle might have to launch a hostile takeover bid.

BEA's valuation jumped to $7.2bn after Oracle launched its bid, indicating that investors expect Oracle to further raise its offer.

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