May 06, 2009, 9:14 AM — SAP has bought Highdeal, a developer of software that helps companies to define business models for services then bill for them in real time, SAP said Wednesday.
The deal follows its strategy of buying innovative technologies and capabilities to complement its existing products, it said.
SAP plans to integrate Highdeal's software with its own billing tools to offer event-driven real-time rating and charging options. SAP will give more details of how that integration will happen when the deal closes, something it expects to occur next month.
Highdeal was spun out of France Télécom's research labs nine years ago, and has its headquarters in Caen, France.
The company boasts 200 customers, including AOL, network operators SFR and Bandwidth.com, and telecommunications equipment manufacturers Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Transactive, Highdeal's pricing and rating software, can bill prepaid accounts or short-term and long-term contracts, and handle promotions and pricing rules that depend on a user's profile or location.
More recently, Highdeal has branched out of its core telecommunications market to work with Mexico's national electrical utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad and financial services company LCH.Clearnet. Online dating agency Meetic will also use its software, the companies announced in February.
SAP and Highdeal aren't disclosing the terms of their agreement, which they signed on Monday.
Since its blockbuster acquisition of Business Objects in October 2007, SAP seems to have slowed the pace of its purchases. Its most recent deals include its February acquisition of Coghead's platform-as-a-service software, and its June 2008 purchase of Visiprise, a developer of manufacturing software, both for undisclosed sums.
