Ariba Announces Partnership with Blackstone to Track and Manage Spending08:30 EST Tuesday, November 27, 2012 SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Business Wire) -- Ariba, an SAP Company and the world's business commerce network, today announced that it has established a preferred vendor relationship with Blackstone (NYSE: BX) to track and manage spending across Blackstone's private equity portfolio. Fueled by mega-shifts in how technology is accessed and delivered, companies are unleashing a new model for operating that is helping to improve their productivity, profits and ultimately, their advantage in an ultra-competitive marketplace. “In leveraging Ariba's cloud-based applications and business network, Blackstone can move beyond simple spend management to manage its capital in a more collaborative and informed way that drives long-term, sustainable growth across its portfolio companies and larger business,” said Al Loges, Managing Director, Ariba Private Equity Solutions. To find savings, Blackstone uses a unique cloud-based application, Ariba® Spend Visibility™, to track and analyze spending at the portfolio company level. Leveraging an integrated spend management dashboard, Blackstone can gain a 360-degree view of all purchasing activity and data across its global portfolio of companies. And through a powerful yet easy-to-use reporting engine with comprehensive data enrichment, they can obtain deep and ongoing visibility into both internal purchasing and external supply and sourcing market dynamics. To improve procurement across its portfolio companies, Blackstone leverages Ariba Sourcing™ On-Demand, which creates effective markets for direct materials and indirect goods and services. Greg Beutler, Executive Director, Blackstone said, “Ariba's solutions, are helping Blackstone drive savings at portfolio companies, which can be directly applied to growth initiatives.” About Blackstone Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment and advisory firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, the companies we advise and the broader global economy. We do this through the commitment of our extraordinary people and flexible capital. Our alternative asset management businesses include the management of private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge fund solutions, credit-oriented funds and closed-end funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow us on Twitter @Blackstone. About Ariba, an SAP Company Ariba is the world's business commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based applications with the world's largest web-based trading community to help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of partners. Using the Ariba® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com About SAP As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 197,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. 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Ariba, the Ariba logo, Quadrem, b-process, Ariba Discovery and other Ariba products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions. Ariba is an SAP company. Note to editors: To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews. AribaKaren Master, 412-297-8177kmaster@ariba.com