SU Group acquires its own reseller
Pegasus parent snaps up Foundation Systems for £2.5m
Systems Union Group (SU), the parent company of accounting software vendor Pegasus, has aggressively launched itself onto the acquisition path after buying its biggest VAR.
The firm announced last week that it has bought Foundation Systems for approximately £2.5m in cash.
Foundation Systems has acted as SU's master reseller for its SunSystems business software brand, but Paul Coleman, chief executive of SU, said the group is hoping to expand Foundation's product portfolio to include Pegasus software.
"If a business is for sale then we will definitely look at it. We are interested in acquiring VARs if they want to be acquired," he said.
However, Coleman claimed the acquisition would not cause conflict with SU's other channel partners.
"We understand that there could be anxiety with our other resellers, but we are not looking to compromise the rest of the channel. It is a controversial move, but there is no reason why we shouldn't own a reseller," he said.
Coleman added that he intends to run Foundation separately, but as part of the SU Group. But he said the firm will report directly to him and not to SU's channel sales director.
He declined to comment on possible job cuts, but said it was normal practice after an acquisition to look at the 'cost base'.
Hugh Scantlebury, managing director of Foundation Systems, also claimed the firm would get no preferential treatment.
"We are very much a solutions business rather than [offering] specific products, and we aim to continue on that basis," he said.
John Dixon, managing director of Pegasus VAR Computime, was confident that the vendor would treat its channel fairly.
"From a reseller perspective Pegasus is the most channel-friendly company that I deal with, and I can only assume that SU is the same," he said. "This does seem a bit of an unusual step for SU, but it is a case of wait and see."