Berlin — SAP agreed to buy Callidus Software for about $2.4bn to bolster a cloud-based business that grew strongly in the fourth quarter. SAP said it generated sales of €6.8bn in the period, in line with analysts’ expectations, on accelerating uptake of flagship business software S/4 Hana. New cloud bookings, a keenly watched metric because it is to provide future sales growth, grew 31% at constant currencies, the Germany-based company said on Tuesday. CEO Bill McDermott has been expanding cloud-based services to challenge rivals such as Salesforce.com and Oracle, and serve clients using the software to run sales, manufacturing and human resources functions. SAP agreed to pay $36 a share for US-based Callidus, known as CallidusCloud, to give Europe’s biggest software company access to new sales analytics and customer engagement tools. "We did it because it’s the most innovative company in its space," McDermott said on a call with reporters. "We want CRM, we’re going for it." S/4 Han...
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