SAP spins out Qualtrics

On July 26, SAP SE announced that its plan to spin out its subsidiary Qualtrics through an initial public offering in the United States. SAP will remain the majority shareholder of the company while Qualtrics’ current CEO, Ryan Smith, will remain in his current position. The move represents a shift in corporate strategy as SAP CEO Christian Klein seeks to preserve high-level agility and evaluate the short-term performance of the company’s $8 billion acquisition, completed in January 2019. Qualtrics is a leading software platform for experience management (XM) which has seen significant growth in the last 18 months. The move will give Qualtrics more autonomy to execute its strategic roadmap and provide SAP with increased latitude to concentrate resources where they are most needed.