SAP splashes out £250m on its own shares

That's one way to breathe life into the market...

In the light of falling share prices, SAP has jumped on the bandwagon of leading high-tech companies, which have repurchased their shares to boost company growth. Europe's largest software maker bought back E400m (£249.3m) worth of shares to reward employees and make purchases, according to the company. SAP has been authorised to buy back up to 30 million shares by 31 October 2001. The company's shares will be used in stock option programmes, and to buy smaller rivals during a period where technology company's valuations are at record lows. SAP has been on a purchasing spree recently, by paying E225m (£140.2m) to boost its stake in online commerce software manufacturer CommerceOne to 20 per cent, and by boosting its stake in venture SAP SI to more than 60 per cent in acquiring a holding worth E53m (£33m) from Siemens.