May 22, 2012 (Shareholders Foundation) -- An investigation on behalf of investors in NASDAQ:ARBA shares was announced concerning whether the offer by SAP AG to acquire Ariba, Inc. at $45 per share and the takeover process are unfair to investors in NASDAQ:ARBA shares.

The investigation by a law firm concerns whether certain officers and directors of Ariba, Inc. breached their fiduciary duties owed to NASDAQ:ARBA investors in connection with the proposed acquisition.

On Tuesday. May 22, 2012, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA) announced that SAPs subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire Ariba for $45.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $4.3 billion.

Following the takeover news shares of Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARBA) jumped on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, from $37.96 per share to $45.04 per share, thus slightly above the current offer.

Furthermore, at least one analyst has set the high target price for NASDAQ:ARBA shares at $50.00 per share.

In addition, Aribas financial performance increased lately. Its Total Revenue rose from $285.70million for the 12months period ending on Sept. 30, 2009 to $443.85milllion for the 12months period ending on Sept. 40, 2011 and its Net Income increased for the respective time periods from $8.19million to $33.26million.

Therefore the investigation for NASDAQ:ARBA investors concerns whether the proposed transaction is unfair to Ariba stockholders. Specifically, the investigation focuses on whether the Ariba ARBA Board of Directors undertook an adequate sales process, adequately shopped the company before entering into the transaction, maximized shareholder value by negotiating the best price, and acted in the shareholders' best interests in connection with the proposed sale.