Software AG says signed major deal with Bosch

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Software AG signed a major deal with German automotive supplier Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] at the start of the fourth quarter instead of the end of the third quarter as it had hoped, Chief Financial Officer Arnd Zinnhardt told Reuters on Friday. Software AG earlier disappointed the market with a 9 percent decline in third-quarter license sales at its digital business platform unit, which it sees as its growth engine. Zinnhardt said in an interview two strategic deals had slipped from the third to the fourth quarter - the Bosch partnership and another major order from Italian insurance telematics provider Octo Telematics. He added that he did not expect any further one-off charges for a nine-year-old U.S. lawsuit after booking provisions of 5 million euros in the third quarter. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Ilona Wissenbach; Editing by Arno Schuetze)