SAP to buy data exchange firm

SAP to acquire Crossgate to help customers share information with partners

Business software maker SAP has confirmed it is to buy electronic data exchange firm Crossgate.

Crossgate provides hosted trading services that enable its customers to share information and make purchases from trading partners, clients and suppliers.

“By acquiring Crossgate … we [will] help our customers extend their end-to-end business processes running on SAP to their customers and partners. As a result, thousands of SAP customers will join the network to exchange information more easily, execute transactions faster, and collaborate better,” said Peter Maier, a general manager at SAP.

Crossgate has about 40,000 customers for its data exchange technology. This helps firms avoid the administrative overhead of paper-based transactions, thereby reducing the costs of purchasing and invoicing.

The deal is expected to close in early November. The cost of the deal has not been disclosed.