Newbury firm's revenue triples in US company deal
A long-standing software company based in Newbury has merged with a Texas firm in a deal which is expected to more than triple its revenue.
Micro Focus International PLC, which has its headquarters at Old Bath Road and employs 290 people, completed the merger on November 3 with US-based software holdings company Attachmate Group.
The local business’s shareholders will own around 60 per cent of the new group in the deal which will more than treble its global revenue and saw shares rise 11 per cent when it was announced.
Corporate communications director of Micro Group, Tim Brill, said: “This is a game-changing development for Micro Focus.
“Following one of the largest acquisitions of a US company by a UK publicly traded technology firm, Newbury employees now sit in the driving seat of one of the world’s top 15 infrastructure software groups.”
The firm, whose headquarters will remain in Newbury, said its total employees has now gone from 1,200 to 4,500 worldwide and its annual revenues have risen from approximately £267m to £893m following the merger.
Executive chairman of Micro Focus, Kevin Loosemore, said: “This is an exciting time for the two organisations, our customer bases, shareholders and employees.
“We have tremendous respect for the Attachmate Group and its portfolio of software brands.
“The scale and depth of these businesses will further our mission of helping customers both preserve business logic and data while exploiting cloud, mobility and other IT trends on a global basis.”
Chief executive of Attachmate, Jeff Hawn, said: “This merger will result in a greater breadth of solutions, extensive global presence and significant financial strength.
“The combined company will be even better able to help customers address their business and IT challenges in light of increasing complexity, change and risk.”
The company is also celebrating after recently being awarded the Tech Achievement of the Year Award. The honour, which recognises “exceptional achievement by an individual or company”, was awarded to the firm on November 12.
Micro Focus International was founded in 1976 and operates in more than 30 countries.
Following the merger with the Attachmate Group, the company has over 5,000 partners and serves more than 20,000 customers.
The Attachmate Group was a privately-held software holdings group based in Houston, Texas, whose expertise includes secure communications and managing electronic file transfers.
