Sage puts Irish resellers on the payroll

Accounting software company Sage claims it has secured market leadership in the Republic of Ireland after buying payroll specialist Computer Resources.

Accounting software company Sage claims it has secured market leadership in the Republic of Ireland after buying payroll specialist Computer Resources.

Sage Hibernia, the Eire subsidiary of Sage, has bought the entire share capital of Computer Resources for IR£7m (£5.3m) in cash plus net assets.

Fin O'Driscoll, general manager for Sage Ireland, which was set up in July 1999, said Computer Resources has a leading position in the Irish payroll market with its Quickpay and Micropay products.

The client base has extended to 6000 customers, which will bring Sage's total Irish customer base to about 19,000, O'Driscoll claimed. "We previously haven't been able to supply an Irish payroll system, although we have a huge part of the UK payroll market," he said.

Sage now plans to encourage its Irish resellers to market the product as quickly as possible, he added.

In May this year, Sage acquired Apex Software International - a company that provides software solutions for professional accountants - for IR£20m.

This second acquisition will allow Sage to take a market-leading position in Ireland, O'Driscoll said.

Rival accounting software company Pegasus, which also boasts its own specially tailored Irish accounting software, is not concerned at the acquisition.

"Our products have always been tailored to the Irish market," said Paul White, managing director of Pegasus.

"Now Sage has followed suit, that's fine. We don't have a problem with that at all."

First published in Computer Reseller News