Prosoft buys Irish courseware company

Ireland-based Internet Certification Institute International (ICII), a body which licenses courseware and provides technical training, has been bought out by US training company Prosoft. Prosoft has acquired all of ICII's shares in the deal, which will help the US company break into Europe. Jerry Baird, Prosoft chairman and CEO, said training companies need to fall into step with their customers: "The Internet is a global medium. Our partners, customers, and technology do not see national boundaries and neither can we. "We already have what we believe is the world's largest course library dedicated to vendor neutral Internet skills training. It is imperative we extend the availability of our products and services worldwide to fulfill our commitment to our shareholders to be the world leader in our market. The acquisition of ICII is an important step in that direction." The Irish government has been pushing to make the country's economy techno-friendly and encourage the development of the IT industry. ICII had been part-owned by Net Guru, another of Prosoft's acquisitions; Net Guru had formed links into Ireland because of the government's positive attitude toward IT companies doing business there. ICII CEO John MacNamara was upbeat about the deal. "The market for Internet training and vendor neutral certification in Europe should be every bit as large as the market in the United States within a few years. Teaming with Prosoft, ICII is now better positioned to capture that market. We also believe Prosoft will find in Ireland a very cost effective resource for instructors and course developers," he said. ®