Sage buys human resources and payroll services firm KCS Global Holdings for £20m

Software giant Sage has acquired personnel and payroll solutions provider KCS Global Holdings in a deal worth £20m.

Surrey-based KCS provides human resources (HR), payroll and time and attendance software and services to a number of UK clients including fashion designer Paul Smith, motor retailer, Reg Vardy and optician Specsavers.

Earlier in the year, Sage bought rival Snowdrop Systems in a deal worth £17m.

Paul Stobart, regional chief executive, Sage UK and Ireland, said: "HR and payroll is an important and growing sector of the business software market and this acquisition complements perfectly our established HR and payroll offerings including those of recently acquired Snowdrop."

Alan Snell, chief executive of KCS, added: "This is an exciting move for us and we're looking forward to leveraging Sage's resources to develop even more leading-edge software for our customers".