Staff&Line builds on its strategic vision to become the European leader in the ITM market by 2008 with the acquisition of SAM UK
St Albans, UK, 2nd October 2006 - Staff&Line, a leading publisher of Pink Elephant certified ITIL (1) compatible software solutions, continues its drive to expand in Europe by entering into a preliminary agreement to acquire SAM UK, a specialist in IT Management (2) solutions based in the UK. Staff&Line’s announcement of its intention to acquire SAM UK still requires the approval of Staff&Line shareholders, but is expected to complete by 30th October 2006.
David Silsby, General Manager, SAM UK said: “We are delighted; the two organisations are highly complementary. We already work closely with Staff&Line and share a number of joint references. Staff&Line is a leading “pure-player ISV” in the ITM market with over 15 years of experience, pioneering innovative out-of-the-box web-based technology. Its market leading 3rd Generation solution, EasyVista, has been ITIL designed from the ground up and Staff&Line is one of only a handful of software providers that can claim to have products that are verified as meeting the Pink Elephant mandatory requirements for ITIL compatibility.”
In the past year, Staff&Line has effectively executed against an aggressive three-year business strategy to acquire like-minded organisations in Europe, in order to extend its reach and leadership position in the ITM market. SAM UK delivers increased presence and credibility for an organisation whose growth in the first six months of 2006 exceeded shareholder expectations. By acquiring SAM UK, Staff&Line will instantly benefit from a unique range of services, including a local installed base and immediate brand recognition.
Jamal Labed, COO Staff&Line, comments: “For us to build a local subsidiary office from scratch would have required years of work, time and effort to achieve. SAM UK has an established brand in the UK with over 300 clients, a strong and experienced team and expertise in the ITAM market. We view this acquisition as a superb addition to our existing business.”
The ITM market is growing rapidly and this acquisition will enable Staff&Line to aggressively break into the UK. Technology, mergers and acquisitions, increasing customer demands and regulatory controls are driving the industry to place more emphasis on improving technology, services and operational performance. However, enterprises of all sizes are grappling with the challenge of managing the complexity of their IT assets, systems and management processes. It is a fact of life, if you don’t have good IT management, it is impossible to ascertain, master or reduce IT costs in line with general management requirements. It is also difficult to improve the quality of service for users and improve the quality of information systems and the organisation as a whole.
Founded in 1998, SAM UK sells and integrates computer audit and inventory solutions. SAM UK offers unique audit compliance software, recognised by many worldwide organisations such as the BSA (Business Software Alliance) and FAST (Federation against Software Theft). SAM UK has an installed base of over 300 clients including Reckitt Benckiser (world leader in maintenance products), Sony BMG, Highways Agency (British road network manager) and State Street Bank.
Founders and current directors of SAM UK, David Silsby and Graham Sharp, who both have over ten years of experience in IT Management, will continue to manage the UK operation following the acquisition.
This announcement follows Staff&Line’s acquisition of SIGHT International earlier in the year. SIGHT has significantly bolstered the company’s presence in southern Europe (Spain, Portugal and Italy) since it became a part of the Group. Staff&Line aims to become the European leader in the publication and commercialisation of IT Management software by 2008. Staff&line is already present in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the United States, and the acquisition of SAM UK opens up further doors in northern Europe.
About Staff&Line
Since its creation in 1988, Staff&Line has positioned itself as a specialist in the IT management market. The company has developed their range of EasyVista applications for organisations of all sizes covering the entire life cycle of IT assets, including: asset management, incident and problem management, change management, configuration management, inventory, portals for users and software distribution. EasyVista is certified ITIL compatible by the independent certification organisation PinkElephant. With operations in France, UK, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Staff&Line boasts over 3,300 clients in the banking, insurance, industrial, office, public administration, IT outsourcing and advisory sectors. Staff&Line is a founding member of itSMF France. Staff&Line is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (Alternext). For further information, please visit us at www.staffandline.co.uk
(1)Pink Elephant is the world leader in IT management best practices, offering conference, education and consulting services to public and private businesses globally. The company specialises in improving the quality of IT services through the application of recognised best practice frameworks, including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®).
(2) Management of IT infrastructures
