SAP, which owns a majority stake in the customer experience management company, has agreed to sell its stake for $7.7 billion, but will continue to operate as a Qualtrics' technology and go-to-market strategic partner, servicing joint customers. Credit: ipopba / Getty Images Customer experience management company Qualtrics on Monday said private equity firm Silver Lake and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have agreed to buy the entire company for $12.5 billion in an all-cash transaction. CPP Investments, according to a joint statement, will pay $1.75 billion in equity and another $1 billion in debt for the deal. US-based Silver Lake, which already owns a 4% stake in the company, along with CPP Investments will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares in Qualtrics, including the entirety of ERP software provider SAP’s majority stake, the companies said. “Qualtrics will become an independent, privately held company,” Qualtrics said, adding that it will continue to remain headquartered in Provo, Utah, and Seattle, Washington, with CEO Zig Serafin at the helm. SAP acquired a majority stake in Qualtrics in 2018 for $8 billion with the idea of marrying customer experience management with ERP software systems. By doing this amalgamation of real-time customer experience data with operational data, enterprises would be able to make adjustments to business strategies to perform better against their competition in their respective segments and domain. In January, SAP said it is also exploring selling its majority stake in Qualtrics to refocus on its core business. However, despite selling off its entire stake, SAP said it will continue to remain a technology and strategic partner, with the company servicing joint customers. The acquisition of Qualtrics by the investment firms, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023, will see SAP garner approximately $7.7 billion for its stake in Qualtrics, the ERP software provider said in a statement. “Since we acquired Qualtrics in 2019 the company has more than tripled its revenue while delivering profitability,” said SAP CEO Christian Klein. “SAP intends to remain a close go-to-market and technology partner, servicing joint customers and continuing to contribute to Qualtrics’s success. The number of companies and brands using Qualtrics software has risen from 10,000 at the time of SAP’s purchase to over 18,000 today.” Related content feature TransUnion transforms its business with IT On the heels of its Neustar acquisition, the consumer credit reporting agency seeks to give customers access to its troves of consumer data to fuel next-generation services through solutions platform OneTru. By Paula Rooney Apr 26, 2024 6 mins Financial Services Industry Digital Transformation Artificial Intelligence feature The 10 highest-paying industries for IT talent The tech industry isn’t the only hot spot for IT jobs, as there’s a growing demand for IT pros across every industry. These 10 verticals pay the most for IT roles, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White Apr 26, 2024 7 mins Salaries IT Jobs Careers brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks M&A action is gaining momentum, are your cloud security leaders prepared? Direct visibility is critical in M&A, and cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPP) are ideal to provide this capability. By Amol Mathur, SVP & GM of Prisma Cloud, Palo Alto Networks Apr 25, 2024 4 mins Cloud Management news CIOs eager to scale AI despite difficulty demonstrating ROI, survey finds CIOs prioritize integrating AI into their organizations alongside cybersecurity, according to a new survey. By Sandeep Budki Apr 25, 2024 5 mins Artificial Intelligence PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe