SAP acquires SmartRecruiters to cement  cloud HR edge 

SAP, a German software company, has acquired San Francisco-based SmartRecruiters in a move that bolsters its cloud-based HR portfolio with recruitment automation at scale. The deal, revealed on Friday, gives SAP access to one of the leading high-volume hiring platforms in the U.S., its most lucrative market. Terms weren’t disclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close in quarter 4, 2025.

SmartRecruiters specializes in automating the recruiting process for large enterprises and was last valued at $1.5 billion in a 2021 round led by Silver Lake Waterman. It’s known for streamlining hiring pipelines for companies like Visa and McDonald’s, handling everything from candidate sourcing to onboarding with a focus on speed and user experience. 

The acquisition reflects SAP CEO Christian Klein’s continued push toward cloud-first transformation. Since taking over in 2019, Klein has favored targeted, product-focused acquisitions over mega-mergers. Recent deals like Signavio, LeanIX, and WalkMe (acquired for $1.5 billion in 2024) were all aimed at helping enterprise clients shift from clunky on-premise setups to agile cloud ecosystems.

With more than 30% of its revenue now coming from the U.S., SAP is doubling down on relevance in a market where cloud-based HR suites are evolving fast. Unlike traditional software installs, cloud migrations are sticky, multiyear projects with higher customer lifetime value. Adding SmartRecruiters gives SAP a deeper wedge into this space and a better shot at locking in talent teams for the long haul.

SAP’s growing cloud momentum has already pushed it to the top of Europe’s valuation charts. But beyond the numbers, SmartRecruiters is also a strategic culture play. While SAP brings the enterprise muscle, SmartRecruiters offers agility, UX savvy, and AI-native features exactly what global talent teams are demanding. The goal is to merge power with flexibility, without scaring off customers already embedded in other recruiting tools.

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