JAKARTA – Software company SAP said on Thursday, January 27, that it has agreed to buy a majority stake in private US fintech company, Taulia. The German maker of software for businesses is seeking to expand its presence in supply chain financing and working capital management.
SAP, which makes software to manage business processes, said it was also seeing opportunities in the 'metaverse' - a virtual online world where people can work, play and socialize.
"We have a great partner contacting us asking for a partnership in the metaverse because of the many exciting B2B (business-to-business) scenarios – ideas about learning, commerce and several other business scenarios," said SAP Chief Executive Officer, Christian Klein, in a statement. an interview cited by Reuters.
Metaverse has become a new tech buzzword as big tech companies like Facebook (FB.O) and Microsoft, have bet that metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet.
“Soon you will see announcements about what SAP will be doing around the metaverse,” said Klein.
The deal with Taulia is predicted to help SAP win more business with customers by providing supply chain financing.
Taulia works with financial institutions to enable suppliers who use its platform to receive early payments for the goods and services they deliver, and the market has significantly increased due to the pandemic disrupting supply chains.
While SAP did not disclose the price of the deal, Klein said it was less than $1 billion. Taulia alone has raised more than $200 million in investments from parties such as Trinity Ventures, Questmark Partners and Lakestar.
“SAP is open to more acquisitions as it fits into its portfolio,” added Klein.
The former CEO of SAP, Léo Apotheker, is an independent director at Taulia, and the company has general customers such as Airbus, Nissan and AstraZeneca.
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