After over a week of speculation, Sage partner SWK Technologies has signed a letter of intent to acquire the assets of Hightower Inc., a Chicago-based Sage business and development partner, including Hightower’s customers and all intellectual property.
Rumors were circulating last week about Hightower’s closure and the reasons behind it, ranging from problems with the firm’s data and phone lines to employees being told to take temporary unpaid leave, and even bank problems and IRS liens. While these reports were not confirmed by anyone at SWK or Hightower, according to SWK president Jeffrey Roth his firm has officially taken over support for all Hightower customers and business partners, and some Hightower staff are currently engaged with SWK to help provide client support.
“This transaction makes SWK Technologies a dynamic force with significant market presence in the Midwest,” said Roth. “Hightower has a catalog of proprietary enhancements, including TimeKeeper, Point of Sale Professional, Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution, which significantly increases SWK’s catalog of proprietary software and intellectual property. As a leading partner of SWK’s MAPADOC Integrated EDI solution, we are already quite comfortable working with the Hightower clients. We are very excited about the future.”
In addition to its own branded products, which were sold to other Sage partners, Hightower sold and supported MAS 90, 200 and 500, along with NetSuite and SysPro. With $4.4 million in reported gross revenue, Hightower ranked 84th on Accounting Today’s 2011 list of the VAR 100.
