Forterro Announces Acquisition of German ERP Vendor Abas Software AG (FOTO)

Austin, TX and Karlsruhe, Germany (ots) -

Forterro, a group of European ERP software companies, backed by
Battery Ventures, today announced that it has entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire Abas Software AG, a privately held
ERP vendor, headquartered in Germany, with subsidiaries and partners
in 27 countries.

Abas was founded in 1980 and provides a complete ERP portfolio to
4,000 mid-market manufacturing and distribution businesses around the
world. Today the company employs 450 people.

"Abas is an important strategic milestone for Forterro, as it
marks our eighth European ERP software acquisition, and our initial
entry into the German market, Europe's largest manufacturing
economy," said Jeff Tognoni, CEO of Forterro. "With the acquisition
of Abas, we gain a strong product and brand, a large and loyal
customer base, and a talented team of product and market experts-all
qualities that Abas shares with Forterro's existing businesses. We
are extremely excited to begin working more closely with the Abas
team to elevate Abas' status as an international leader in
manufacturing ERP."

The acquisition follows a series of strategic product initiatives
and management hires at Abas, focused on expanding the company's
cloud offering, establishing a greater ecosystem of products around
the core ERP solution offering, and introducing vertical SaaS
products. It is expected that the acquisition will give Abas the
opportunity to expand its ecosystem and international presence
further, while improving the time to market of new and improved
products and services by leveraging the resources, expertise, and
capital of both the group and its sister companies. Baris Ergun, CEO
of Abas, pointed out:

"Digitalization and the Internet of Things have started to disrupt
both business models and processes of our customers in an unprecedent
fashion. In the past two years, we have built the technological
foundation and a whole ecosystem to meet the rising demand through
IOT-enabled value chains and increasingly mobile users. The deal with
Forterro will accelerate our ability to roll out these new offerings
to more markets, while leveraging local synergies with other ERP
vendors from the new group. We are excited to become a member of the
Forterro family."

"Forterro is the perfect partner for Abas. We share the conviction
that local vendors understand the needs of local businesses best. For
our team, our partners, and our customers in the local markets, this
is good news," commented Werner Strub, co-founder and long-time CEO
of Abas.

The transaction is subject to approval by German anti-trust
authorities.

Board Advisors Deutschland AG acted as M&A advisor and Friedrich
Graf von Westphalen as legal advisor to Abas Software AG.

About Forterro

Forterro is a group of companies that deliver ERP software to SMEs
in specialized geographical or vertical markets. Headquartered in
Austin, TX, and backed by global investment firm Battery Ventures,
Forterro operates business units in Sweden, Switzerland, France and
Poland, as well as regional office locations and research and
development centers around the world. Through its ever-growing
ecosystem of IP and capital, Forterro collaborates with local
management teams to strengthen the solution offerings and operational
performance of its portfolio companies. For more information, visit
www.forterro.com.

About Abas

Since 1980, Abas has helped production-related companies around
the world create change and profit from digital transformation-with
our advanced ERP software, smart business process consulting, and the
deep expertise of our employees and partners.

All business areas profit from our broad product portfolio which,
in addition to core ERP functions, also includes a selection of
valuable add-on solutions, from APS and BPM to project management and
IOT connectivity tools. And thanks to mobile apps, our users have
access to their data and processes anywhere and anytime. In various
countries, Abas ERP ranks among the top five ERP systems for
mid-market manufacturing businesses. More than 4,000 companies in 30
countries have chosen Abas. For more information, visit www.abas.com.

About Battery

Ventures Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge,
category-defining businesses in markets including software and
services, Web infrastructure, consumer Internet, mobile and
industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at
stages ranging from seed to private equity and invests globally from
offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, London, Israel and New
York. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website
at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio
companies here (https://www.battery.com/our-companies/list).

Press Contact:
Abas Software AG
Mark Muschelknautz, CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
Mark.Muschelknautz@abas.de
Gartenstraße 67
76135 Karlsruhe
Germany
Phone: +49 721-967230
Fax: +49 721-96723-100
www.abas.com

Original-Content von: abas Software AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell