国际英语新闻：SAP to buy Sybase for 5.8 billion dollars

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- German business software giant SAP AG on Wednesday announced that it has agreed to buy software maker Sybase Inc. for 5.8 billion U.S. dollars, in a deal that could intensify the competition between SAP and its key rival Oracle Corp. in the enterprise software market.

Under the agreement, SAP's subsidiary SAP America Inc. will make an all cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Sybase common stock at 65 dollars per share, representing an enterprise value of about 5.8 billion dollars, the two companies said in a joint statement.

The purchase price represents a 44-percent premium over the three-month average stock price of Sybase, which is headquartered in Dublin, the U.S. state of California.

The two companies said that Sybase will operate as a standalone unit under the name "Sybase, an SAP Company" and Sybase's management team will continue to run the business.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by Sybase board of directors and is expected to close in the third quarter.