Sage to buy Accpac for US$110m

Two channel-friendly SMB business software vendors have agreed to merge in a move that will strengthen their Australian presence.

Best Software in the US has announced that its UK-based parent, Sage Group, has agreed to pay Computer Associates (CA)US$110 million in cash for its stake in Accpac International.

After expenses, CA will recognise $88 million. Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close by the end of February.

Ron Verni, CEO of Best in the US, said the Accpac acquisition would enable the company to expand into Canada and Asia and strengthen its presence in Australia and South Africa.

Best and Accpac both offer business software aimed at SMBs. Best's portfolio includes stand-alone applications, such as its SalesLogix CRM software, and its MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500 back-office suites for accounting, inventory management and wholesale distribution.

Accpac's product line includes applications for accounting, CRM, human resources, warehouse management, manufacturing and point-of-sale. Accpac's products can all be delivered as hosted services over the internet, rounding out Best's offerings.

'We are very excited by [Accpac's hosted CRM solution] because we had to either build it or buy it,' said Verni. 'The market and our partners have been telling us that we needed a hosted product for the CRM side.'

Accpac's software can run on either Linux or Windows and work with various databases, such as Microsoft's SQL Server and IBM's DB2.

'This [acquisition] is good for Best because it gives them the whole freedom of choice that Best has been talking about,' said Alex Solomon, co-president of Net@Work, a US reseller for both Best and Accpac.

'Now Best can tell customers they can have hosted or not-hosted applications. Database? You pick it. And you can pick the OS. This puts Best on an equal footing, if not better than Microsoft,' Solomon said.

Choosing to focus solely on management software, CA has been shedding its business application products since early 2002.

In December 2002, CA said it would spin off Accpac in an initial public offering. That never happened because of 'unfavourable market conditions,' a CA spokesperson said.

'We decided that a sale to Sage, which has Best Software in the US, was the best way to serve [Accpac's] customers and provide opportunities for Accpac employees,' he said.

Accpac is expected to bring more than 540,000 SMB customers to Best, which already has more than 1.8 million customers in the United States. The combined company will have a channel of more than 13,600 partners.

Best's Verni and Accpac CEO David Hood said they expect Accpac to operate as a separate business unit within Best. Hood's role in the new company will be announced after the acquisition is completed.