ABS Computers Ltd, formerly the Allied Business Systems small business computer manufacturer, has long looked a vestigial part of the Trafalgar House Plc empire, too small to turn up in the annual report, and giving the impression that top management was unaware of its existence. If that was the case, well the Hove, Sussex-based company has now come to the boardroom’s attention, and it, together with sister software company Shortlands Computing Services Ltd, has been sold to Datapro Computers Ltd of nearby Horsham. Datapro, whose name threatens endless confusion with the US market research company of the same name, was very active on the acquisition front three years ago (CI No 1,338), since when things have been relatively quiet. The terms of the deal values the two companies at UKP5m, and they will operate as subsidiaries from their present locations. Datapro specialises in the networked MS-DOS and Macintosh markets, while ABS and Shortlands serve the mid-range Unix market with products such as the Pharoah asset management system, PCMS patient care management system and Shortlands Financials suite. The companies also bring with them maintenance and support billings worth some UKP3m a year.
