Deutsche Bank, SAP, AOL Join Forces

Deutsche Bank, Europe’s biggest bank, said it will join forces with SAP and AOL Europe and spend as much as $990 million a year to build its online business. The stock rose 5.8%. Deutsche Bank will partly fund the online expansion by selling stakes in industrial companies, said Chief Executive Rolf Breuer. It will work with SAP to offer companies services via SAP’s Internet platform and with AOL to boost its online broker. German banks including Dresdner Bank are taking to the Web to regain ground lost to online rivals such as ConSors Discount Broker, and as they cut retail banking costs. They’re also trying to keep up with companies that have already set up their own business-to-business online ventures.