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Merrill Lynch analyst Raimo Lenschow this morning cut his rating on SAP (SAP) to Neutral from Buy, while maintaining his current price target of 34 Euros, or just under $47. The stock closed yesterday at $42.55.

SAP (SAP) could spend as much as 5 billion Euros - $7 billion - on large acquisitions, CEO Leo Apothekar told the French daily Le Figaro, according to Bloomberg.

The enterprise company said said it has 2.5 billion Euros available and could raise a similar amount for acquisitions.

In 2008, the company spent $6.7 billion on Business Objects in its biggest ever acquisition - and a shift from a previous strategy that focused on internal growth. But with the Business Objects deal, the company appeared to adopt an approach more like that of chief rival Oracle (ORCL).

Microsoft (MSFT) is selling bonds for the first time today, the WSJ reports. While Microsoft has more than $25 billion in cash, it could potentially raise $15 billion in bonds, one investor told the WSJ.

Microsoft says it plans to use the money for general corporate purposes, according to the WSJ, "including working capital, capital expenditures, and repurchases of its capital stock."

But could it also be planning a big deal?

SAP (SAP) Co-CEO Leo Apothekar told reporters at a briefing in New York that the economy is showing signs of “stabilization,” Reuters reports. “We’ll probably start to see some glimmers of hope in the second half of the year for the global economy.”

The SAP exec also played down speculation about an acquisition of the giant software company, asserting that it should remain independent. “Our customers believe an independent SAP is the best value they can get,” he said.

SAP (SAP) today said it is acquiring Caen, France-based Highdeal, which sells real-time billing software for the telecom sector. According to SAP, Highdeal has more than 200 customer implementations in over 50 countries. The company, spun off from France Telecom in 2000, has about 90 employees. Highdeal had raised 25 million Euros in two venture rounds; investors include CDC Innovation, Newbury Ventures, 3i and Innovacom.

The deal is expected to close in June. Terms were not disclosed.