Pink slips at Mobius

Seven of 10 employees at Mobius Management Systems Inc. in Rye are out of work since the formerly public software company was acquired two weeks ago by Allen Systems Group Inc. (ASG).
Based in Naples, Fla., ASG, a privately owned enterprise software provider to Global 5000 companies, paid approximately $211 million to assume full ownership of the 26-year-old company with headquarters at 120 Old Post Road in Rye. Mobius stockholders were paid $10.05 per share at the time of the merger. Then ASG promptly laid off 184 of approximately 265 employees in Rye.
ASG spokesman Parker Hathcock said the cuts were made to avoid “costly duplication or redundant positions within the combined company.” The layoffs, which affected several departments, “were determined through a painstaking analysis of the two businesses,” he said.
“ASG has experienced 20 percent compound growth in the previous 9 years,” the spokesman said in an e-mail statement. “This is rare for a software company. Part of our success hinges on prudent, if sometimes difficult, business decisions.”
Mobius reported total revenues of $89.2 million in the 2006 fiscal year and net income of $2.1 million, after a net loss of $2.7 million in 2005. The company prior to the merger with parent company ASG reported a net income loss of $1,681,000 in the first quarter of this year.
Hathcock said no additional layoffs are anticipated at Rye and the office will stay open.
Laid-off workers received severance pay. A number of former employees could be called back if other Mobius employees resign or the company grows, the spokesman said.
Arthur L. Allen, ASG founder, president and CEO, said the acquisition of Mobius positions ASG favorably in the growing enterprise content management and business service management markets. “Mobius”™ technology and experienced personnel will help our customers fuse their IT investments with their business goals,” he said.