Forterro Acquires German Reseller and Opens Service Centre in Bulgaria
ERP business unit abas expands its presence in Germany and strengthens customer support in Eastern Europe
London, UK, January 12, 2022— Forterro, a European provider of ERP software solutions to more than 10,000 midmarket manufacturing and production companies, today announced two business milestones achieved in the fourth quarter of 2021. Firstly, its product business abas Software GmbH acquired abas System GmbH (Berlin), a value-added reseller serving northern and central Germany. Secondly, Forterro created Forterro Bulgaria Ltd., which will function as a regional service centre for abas ERP customers with operations in Eastern Europe.
Forterro Acquires German Reseller
Abas attained 100 percent ownership of its partner abas system GmbH in a transaction that closed in December. Headquartered in Berlin and supported by a secondary location in Rhine, abas system GmbH operates as an exclusive value-added reseller for abas ERP. With the acquisition, abas further expands its presence in northern and central Germany and gains nearly 40 product experts, as well as a loyal customer base of more than 100 manufacturing companies.
“Today’s news is a continuation of the story we began with our acquisition of [similarly named] abas Systemhaus GmbH (Reinbek) in October,” said Richard Furby, general manager of abas. “Integrating the talent and knowledge of key strategic partners like abas system GmbH (Berlin) into our direct business is how we take greater control of the quality of our solutions and greater ownership of the success of our customers.”
Forterro Opens Service Centre in Bulgaria
The creation of Forterro Bulgaria Ltd. follows the liquidation of a minority-owned Abas partner in Bulgaria. All employees from the partner business will be hired by Abas Software GmbH to build a wholly-owned subsidiary that is directly servicing and supporting abas ERP implementations that extend from DACH into Eastern Europe. The initiative follows the company’s aggressive push to better align its direct international operations with those of its customers.
“We need to be where our customers are and where they want to go,” said Richard Furby, general manager of Abas. “Bulgaria presented the perfect location to support them, given its proximity to customer sites, as well as the product expertise and language skills of the team there. Opening this regional hub is a huge step forward in our strategy to provide a more consistent customer experience around the world.”
Forterro Bulgaria Ltd., led by Managing Director Veselka Petrova, will be operational immediately to continue serving and supporting Abas’ existing customers in Bulgaria.
Dean Forbes, CEO of Forterro, sees even more potential for Forterro’s Bulgarian operations. “Whereever we expand in the world for one product, it could naturally lead to opportunities for other products,” he said. “From a global perspective, we can leverage Forterro Bulgaria as a base from which we can support our business units in a myriad of ways, from product-specific R&D and consulting services to functional support for our backoffice and local operations. The possibilities are truly endless, and I’m anxious to begin exploring the opportunities that make the most sense as we evolve Forterro’s strategy and growth story.”
About Forterro
Since it was founded in 2012, Forterro has grown to employ some 1,600 employees who work from over 40 office locations around the world to support specialised software solutions and more than 11,000 small and midsize manufacturers. Headquartered in London, Forterro is a category leader in one of the largest and most steadily growing markets in software, with strongholds in each of the Europe’s top production economies, as well as regional service hubs and development centres around the world. Forterro is home to a diverse range of local and vertical industry software solutions—each one uniquely developed by the midmarket, for the midmarket.
About Abas
From its headquarters in Karlsruhe Germany and through its global ecosystem of industry, product and process experts around the world, Forterro’s product business abas Software GmbH delivers a feature-rich ERP solution that automates, out of the box, the common business processes of discrete manufacturing companies. Niche market leaders throughout the DACH midmarket and the United States choose abas ERP because of the system's ability to be configured and customiszed (while remaining upgradable) to align with their competitively unique and complex business processes. For more information, visit www.abas-erp.com.