Zenprise, the California, US-based provider of enterprise mobile device management software, has acquired France’s Sparus Software, which specialises in “managing, securing and remotely deploying line of business applications” in anything from smartphones, smartpads and things like card readers and scanners. The details of the acquisition aren’t being disclosed, although Sparus is thought to have previously raised over €4m from Crédit Agricole Private Equity, AXA Private Equity, and the startup’s management team, all of whom would have been seeking a decent exit.
Zenprise says that the purchase of Sparus Software will enable it to reinforce its sales and marketing footprint in Europe with in-country customer technical support, and furthers the company’s aim to become the leader in global mobile device management. This follows a $9m funding round in June led by Rembrandt Venture Partners, along with Ignition Partners, Bay Partners, Mayfield and Shasta Ventures, who participated in Zenprise’s previous $10 million round.
In addition to Sparus’ mobile management software, which is said to be deployed by more than 60 global enterprises, the company offers a cloud-based version of its software via a hosted, managed solution offered by partners.
Sparus also brings a “unique set of non-intrusive management capabilities that meet compliance and data privacy requirements of European companies”, something that Zenprise can now exploit. These include the ability to limit data collected from the device based on geographic region, therefore complying with the various privacy laws throughout Europe.
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