Business Objects is looking for a buyer: report

PARIS (Reuters) - Business Objects BOBJ.PA BOBJ.O, a French-American business intelligence software maker, is looking for a buyer and has appointed Goldman Sachs to find an investor, Le Figaro newspaper said.

At current market prices, Business Object is valued at 2.9 billion euros ($4.03 billion).

Le Figaro said there were five interested parties, including business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) of Germany. The paper did not name its source, and said neither Business Objects nor SAP would comment. Oracle (ORCL.O) and IBM (IBM.N) have in the past also been mentioned as possible bidders.

The paper said a bid for Business Objects by a larger group would accelerate its growth amid consolidation in the sector.