UK-based censorware outfit SurfControl today acquired anti-spam and filtering appliance vendor MessageSoft. The deal is valued at up to $14.7m, depending on sales, with an initial $9.69m in cash up front and the remainder by the end of the year.

SurfControl said the deal gave it access to MessageSoft's Linux-based appliance technology and access to an established sales and distribution operation in mainland China, where US-based MessageSoft has secured an important foothold.

SurfControl already markets anti-spam software. SurfControl chief exec Stephen Purdham told El Reg that the MessageSoft acquisition would allow the company to offer customers a choice. "We've no religious commitment to either hardware or software providing people are buying SurfControl," he said. ®

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