Tolerant Systems sale sparks uncertainty
Master reseller agreement in jeopardy folowing acquisition
The future of Tolerant Systems’ exclusive master reseller agreement with Computer Associates (CA) is hanging in the balance after the reseller was bought by acquisition-hungry VAR Redstone last week.
Redstone, which last month bought mobility distributor Symphony for £17.3m, acquired the Tolerant Group for approximately £3.75m. The purchase will give Redstone a foothold in the network security market.
In 2003, Tolerant ended its relationship with Network Associates (now McAfee) and became CA’s master reseller for its e-Trust anti-virus portfolio (CRN, 8 September 2003). This means existing CA anti-virus resellers selling 100-plus licences must buy from Tolerant.
Speaking to CRN, Martin Balaam, chief executive of Redstone, said: “The CA agreement was one of the main attractions of Tolerant as well as the additional skills and the significant cross-selling opportunities we have. We are looking to work with CA to exploit the additional market opportunities.”
Balaam added that no jobs will be lost as a result of the acquisition and the two firms will go through a transition period to integrate the businesses.
Nick Tunstall, managing director and founder of Tolerant, will remain with the business on a consultancy basis for six months.
“I set the business up with plans for an exit strategy and I’m very pleased we have been acquired by Redstone,” he said.
However, Tunstall declined to comment on the CA agreement saying: “I’m going to leave that for CA and Redstone to discuss.”
CA was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
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