Business application software outfit SAP AG has bought a 50% stake in fellow German sales force automation company Keifer & Veittinger GmbH. SAP will combine K&V’s technical and consulting resources with its own development efforts in a bid to deliver a more comprehensive set of customer management applications. Some 40% of K&V’s customers are already using SAP products with their K&V sales management systems, and the companies are therefore confident that an integrated product offering will be received well. Keifer & Veittinger will maintain its identity and will continue to support its existing product and customers. The SAP investment will enable K&V to grow its international presence and finances. Keifer & Veittinger was founded in 1986 and is based in Mannheim, with US headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts and employs around 300 people. Earlier in the year SAP bought a chunk of another German company, IDS Prof Scheer GmbH, a business management software firm, with the intention of developing software components for the public sector (CI No 3,188).
