SAP shares seen open lower after Sybase deal

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Shares in SAP AG (SAPG.DE) looked set to start trading lower on Thursday after the German software company offered to buy smaller U.S. rival Sybase Inc SY.N for $5.8 billion.

Shares in SAP were indicated 1.6 percent lower, according to pre-market data from brokers at 0634 GMT.

Analysts said SAP was finally catching up to rivals by growing with acquisitions, but there was some doubt whether SAP would be able to get the most out of the deal.

"We see this as a win-win for both SAP and Sybase," said analyst Jack Gold at J.Gold Associates. "However, SAP does not have the most stellar history of buying companies and then maximizing its investments in the technologies it has acquired."

SAP said on late on Wednesday it had agreed to pay $65 per share in cash for Sybase, which is the world's No. 4 provider of database software -- a 56 percent premium to Sybase's Tuesday closing price on the New York Stock Exchange.

California-based Sybase sells programs that make it easy for workers to access business software via smartphones and other mobile devices. SAP already uses the technology to let customers access its applications when they are on the road.

SAP's main rival, Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), was the first major software maker to aggressively pursue acquisitions and has spent more than $42 billion to buy about 60 companies.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske)