January 10th evening news, Germany’s second largest software company Software AG announced fourth-quarter achievements missed analysts’ expectations, triggering a share price collapse. It means that HP and other potential buyers may buy the company at a lower price.
Software AG shares plunged 26 percent on Tuesday, the largest decline since April 2002, making the company’s market value fell to $ 2.6 billion. French broker Exane analyst Josep Bori said Software AG could become a takeover target for HP and SAP. HP has acquired British software company Autonomy with $ 10.3 billion last year, HP is likely to interested in other European software companies.
In 2011, Software AG achievements missed analysts’ expectations for twice. The company reported that U.S. sales of process optimization software declined. As the uncertainty economic growth, Software AG’s customer spending down, so the performance of the company failed to obtain favorable seasonal factors. Software AG focuses on software consulting services and business process optimization.