Watford-based Syfa Data Systems Plc has been bought by its management on undisclosed terms and has changed its name to Chadkit Ltd. The name was bought off the shelf in a hurry, and will be changed in the next couple of weeks. Although Syfa was in profit at the time, it was forced into involuntary receivership when one of its investors, Southern Pacific Leasing, demanded all its cash back in one hit. According to Syfa’s marketing executive Alan Hughes, the move followed Southern Pacific’s purchase by BankAmerica Corp and was the result of the bank’s decision to focus solely on the US market. Although several firms attempted to buy the company, or at least its engineering arm, Hughes said that the management bid succeeded because it involved the most cash. None of Syfa’s 60-odd staff have lost their jobs. The firm, which up until three years ago was owned by Computer Automation Inc, used to sell proprietary transaction processing hardware and software. While it still offers maintenance on this kit, the hardware focus is now on distributing Motorola Inc Unix boxes. Syfa has also developed an executive information system based on Uniplex Ltd’s office automation tools, and is negotiating sole rights to an unidentified document imaging system.
