Software firm SAP will acquire cloud-based human capital management solutions firm SuccessFactors.

SAP will hand over around $3.4bn (£2.2bn) as part of the purchase, which was unanimously approved by SuccessFactors’ board.

Bill McDermott, chief executive of SAP, says: “The cloud is a core of SAP’s future growth…The acquisition will help us address the top priority for chief executives globally - managing people and talent.”

SAP customers worldwide employ over 500m people, while SuccessFactors has 3,500 customers in 168 countries.

Mike Gregoire, chairman and chief executive of SuccessFactors’ competitor Taleo, says: “We view SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors as good news on many fronts. It reaffirms that talent management and a cloud strategy are a critical part of every company’s success.”