Accounting software firm Sage Group sells off Swiss business for £39m

Accounting software giant Sage Group has sold its Swiss business to rival Infoniqa in a deal for 50 million Swiss francs (£39 million), the company has announced.

Infoniqa is an HR software business majority-owned by private equity giant Warburg Pincus and will see the new owners pay Sage in cash once the deal has completed within the next 12 months.

Sage revealed the Swiss business achieved revenues of £25 million to the year ending September 2020 with an operating profit of £4 million – down from £8 million a year earlier.

Bosses at the Newcastle upon Tyne-based firm first revealed in November plans to sell the division, which was first bought for £10.7 million in 2005.

The company said at the time it wanted to create a “simpler and more focused business” to reduce “exposure to non-core business lines and geographies”.

Sage’s Polish business was identified and a sale for £66 million was announced in December, while divisions in Asia, Australia and South Africa were also touted to potential buyers.