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 news Google spurs US to ease immigration rules for tech talent Citing a US talent shortage, the tech giant has urged the Department of Labor to expand Schedule A occupations to include AI, software engineering, and cybersecurity roles. By Sascha Brodsky May 01, 2024 4 mins H-1B Visas Hiring Technology Industry brandpost Sponsored by Cisco Reduce your network complexity with AI Jumpstart your AI-enabled network transformation now to achieve multiple benefits. By Matt Landry May 01, 2024 5 mins Networking brandpost Sponsored by SAP Internet startup launches while embracing adoption Internet provider Brightspeed had to replicate information from its SAP solutions to AI-ready, data analytics platform Google BigQuery. SAP’s adoption strategy helped empower the company to become an intelligent enterprise. By Keith Elliot Greenberg, SAP Contributor May 01, 2024 4 mins Digital Transformation feature Expectations vs. reality: A real-world check on generative AI Now with the benefit of hindsight, organizations are more aware of moving cautiously to ensure gen AI delivers rather than disappoints. By Mary Branscombe May 01, 2024 11 mins Microsoft Generative AI Development Tools 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