SAP welcomes Elliott’s $1.3bn investment
German business software company hits new high as US activist investor buys 1% stake and backs new management efficiency drive
Frankfurt — US activist investor Elliott revealed a €1.2bn stake in SAP on Wednesday and says it supports a new management efficiency drive, sending shares in the German business software company to a high. SAP has until now escaped the attention of activist investors, steered by co-founder and chair Hasso Plattner who has withstood tough competition from US rivals and is still the biggest shareholder in the German company with 6.5%. Yet SAP has never achieved the 40% profit margins that Microsoft boasted at its height. It reported an adjusted operating margin of 24% for the first quarter as it grapples with a catch-up transition to cloud computing. Europe’s most valuable technology company now wants to expand adjusted operating margins by a total of five percentage points through 2023. “This is that magic moment that people have been waiting for where they are like, wow, nobody grows like SAP, but can I get some margin out of this growth?” Bill McDermott, the 57-year-old New Yorke...
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