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Sage North America

sagenorthamerica.com

The Sage Group PLC is engaged in the development, distribution and support of business management software and related products and services for medium-sized and smaller businesses.^[1]

Founded and headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, the company for many years grew organically, but more recently has grown through acquisitions. It now operates worldwide. The company's US headquarters are in Irvine, California, the Canadian headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and the French and Continental European headquarters are in Paris, France.

It has from time to time been the only UK software company listed in the FTSE 100 Index of leading UK public companies. (The index is redrawn from time to time as companies' fortunes wax and wane.)

The company is focusing on vertical market software and has recently purchased several industry-focused groups.

History

Development of the business

The Company was founded by David Goldman and Graham Wylie in 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne to develop estimating and accounting software for small businesses.^[2] In 1984 the Company launched Sage software, a product for the Amstrad PCW word processor,^[2] which uses the CP/M operating system. Sage software sales escalated in that year from 30 copies a month to over 300.^[2] The Company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1989.^[2]

In 1994 Paul Walker was appointed Chief Executive. In 1998 Sage’s Professional Accountants Division was established. In 1999 Sage entered FTSE 100^[2] and launched a dedicated Irish division, based in Dublin as well as its e-business strategy. In that same year the UK acquisition of Tetra saw Sage enter the mid-range business software market.^[3]

In 2000 Sage shares were named ‘best performing share of the 90s’ in the UK business press.^[4] In 2001 Sage acquired Interact Commerce Inc^[5] and entered the CRM/contact management market and in 2002 Sage won 'Business of The Year' in National Business Awards.^[6] Also that year Sage sponsorsed the new Music Centre in Gateshead for £6m - now known as The Sage Gateshead - the largest ever UK arts/business sponsorship.^[7] By 2003 Sage was the only remaining technology stock in the FTSE 100 Index.

Major acquisitions

The following are the major acquisitions the Company has undertaken:

1991 - Dac Easy (U.S.)
1992 - Remote (Telemagic) (U.S.), Ciel (France), Dataform (UK)
1994 - Extra Software SPA (Spain), Multisoft (UK), Timeslips (U.S.), Saari (France)
1995 - Sybel (France)
1997 - Prosoft (U.S.), KHK (Germany)
1998 - Peachtree Software (U.S.), P.A.S.E. (UK), PACS (UK), State of the Art (U.S.)
1999 - Infologia (Portugal), Tetra (UK), Taxsoft (UK), Peachtree (U.S.)
2000 - Computer Resources (Ireland), Adaptus Software (UK), Apex (Ireland & UK), SESAM (Switzerland), CSM (UK), Hartley (UK), Best Software (U.S.)
2001 - Interact (U.S.), TAS Software (UK)
2002 - Coala (France)
2003 - Softline (South Africa/Australia), Grupo SP (Spain), Timberline (U.S.), ATW (UK), Promis (UK)
2004 - ACCPAC International (U.S.)
2004 - IntelligentApps - Business Intelligence software soon to become Sage BI Enterprise
2005 - Logic Control (Spain)
2006 - Verus Financial Management, Inc (US Based payment processing company), Intuit Master Builder (U.S.), Contractor Anywhere (U.S.)
2006 - Emdeon Practice Services, Inc (leading vendor of software and services for doctors' practices in the US, most of which are small or medium-sized businesses)
2007 - Snowdrop Systems Ltd (UK) www.snowdrop.co.uk (Develop, Distribute, and Support HR and Payroll).
2007 - KCS RightSource (HR and Payroll)