SAP gobbles Ariba in $4.3b cloud play

SAP has acquired US cloud procurement network Ariba for US$4.3 billion, marking its second multi-billion dollar 'cloud' acquisition in the last year. 

The Ariba acquisition, which SAP expects to close by the end of the year, will bring in an additional $444 in revenues, which the company said accounted for $319 billion in commerce transactions spread among 730,000 companies from the procurement network.

According to SAP co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, the acquisition would "deliver immediate value to our customers and provide another solid engine for driving SAP’s growth in the cloud".

Ariba’s platform is used by companies to streamline buying, managing cash and selling processes. It has 2600 employees.

Ariba's Australian customers include RailCorp, Crown Melbourne, Burswood Perth. 

SAP’s last major acquisition was cloud human capital management company SuccessFactors, which it closed for US$3.4 billion in February. 

SAP last week announced its cloud roadmap, which falls into four broad catergories including human resources, finance, CRM, and procurement.