MANNHEIM, Germany (Reuters) - SAP said on Wednesday it initially planned a cooperation with Ariba Inc rather than buying the commerce network company.

German business software maker SAP announced plans to buy Ariba late on Tuesday, in a deal valuing the U.S. company at $4.3 billion, its latest maneuver against Oracle in the fast-growing Internet-based computing market.

SAP said it still aims to reach an operating margin of 35 percent in 2015.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Hendrik Sackmann)