Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Software AG Chief Executive Officer Karl-Heinz Streibich ruled out acquisitions for next year as Germany’s second-largest software maker first wants to pay back the debt it took on for the purchase of IDS Scheer AG.

“We just bought IDS Scheer for 480 million euros, so we don’t plan any acquisitions for 2010,” Streibich said in an interview in Weybridge, U.K. “We have some debt now due to the acquisition and we have a clear plan about how to pay it back.”

The Darmstadt, Germany-based company in August got 340 million euros of loans to fund the bid for IDS, the company said. The loans have portions with maturities up to December 2012, it said on Aug. 6. Streibich said the company doesn’t “need to raise any capital next year.”

Streibich has made at least nine acquisitions since taking over in October 2003, and IDS Scheer was the largest purchase in Software AG’s 40-year history. IDS helped Software AG to treble its customers and expand into services for products from SAP AG, the country’s largest software maker. Software AG will resume acquisitions after next year and is particularly interested in data management companies, Streibich said.

“Innovation, our own product developments, partnerships with other companies, merger and acquisition and geographic expansion will drive our growth in the future,” the CEO said. “There is a good possibility that we will have similar growth in the next five years as we had in the last five years.”

Asked whether Software AG could be taken over by a rival, Streibich said that “it is generally know that we’re owned by this foundation and therefore we don’t get approached,” adding that “they know that the foundation does not sell” and “we are secure against a hostile takeover.” The Sofware AG foundation owns 30 percent of the company.

“We don’t need to be taken over from a financial point of view and not from a product portfolio view,” Streibich said. “We have a very competitive set of products, we are profitable, we don’t need help.”

To contact the reporter for this story: Simon Thiel in London at sthiel1@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 5, 2009 02:18 EST