Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- SAP AG, the biggest maker of business-management software, doesn't expect a slowing global economy to hurt sales.

``There is today no indication that a changing economic environment, which is still speculative, would impact the demand for enterprise software,'' Chief Executive Officer Henning Kagermann said in an interview in Palo Alto, California.

SAP reported a 14 percent jump in fourth-quarter software license sales this week, beating analysts' estimates and quelling investor concern that an economic slowdown will shrink corporate technology budgets. Walldorf, Germany-based SAP, whose software helps run tasks such as billing and payroll, is scheduled to give its 2008 forecasts Jan. 30.

Kagermann and other executives held a press conference today to talk about the company's 4.8 billion euro ($7 billion) purchase of Business Objects SA, SAP's biggest-ever acquisition.

``We are aware that people are concerned by what's happening in the financial services market,'' he said. ``Most of the exposure to us is pretty low. Companies have to stay competitive and software like ours helps them do that.''

Growth in companies' technology spending may slow to 2.2 percent this year from 2.9 percent in 2007, according to a survey of 80 SAP clients commissioned by UBS AG last month.

Kagermann announced the 4.8 billion-euro takeover of Business Objects SA in October to add software that mines corporate databases. The acquisition is the biggest in SAP's 35- year history and follows more than $25 billion of purchases made or announced by rival Oracle Corp. since 2005.

Acquisition

SAP held 87.2 percent of Business Objects, based in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, after the 42-euro per-share cash offer ended yesterday. A new tender for the remaining stock at the same price begins today and runs through Jan. 29.

In September, SAP introduced a line of software dubbed Business ByDesign to target companies with as few as 100 employees. Spending on the project slashed the software maker's operating margin by 80 basis points to 26.5 percent last year. SAP budgeted 300 million euros to 400 million euros on the project over two years ending in December.

SAP was founded in 1972 by five former IBM employees. Three of the founders, Hasso Plattner, Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira, remain the biggest shareholders with a combined 30 percent stake.

SAP shares traded in the U.S. rose 65 cents to $49.50 at 4:30 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 1.6 percent in the past year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Rochelle Garner in San Francisco at rgarner4@bloomberg.net; Kenneth Wong in Berlin at kwong11@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 16, 2008 18:04 EST