Bitdefender invests in APAC with acquisition of SMS eTech business line

Cybersecurity company Bitdefender has announced the establishment of a direct, official presence in the Australia and New Zealand market with the September 1 acquisition of the Bitdefender business line of its long-standing regional partner, distributor SMS eTech.

Thirteen years after first entering the ANZ market, the founding of Bitdefender Australia through this acquisition marks its first official presence in the APAC region, and serves as a local springboard for Bitdefender's growth in the ANZ market.

For the past four years, SMS eTech has served as Bitdefender's exclusive country partner in Australia, growing Bitdefender's business by 55%, with an emphasis on enterprise sales.

From its base in Melbourne, the new Bitdefender Australia office will keep all current employees of SMS eTech working on the Bitdefender business line, with an eye to consolidating its channel relationships and online sales and expanding into retail across the region.

SMS eTech and its remaining employees will continue to operate independently on its other business lines.

Bitdefender worldwide channels vice president Joe Sykora says, "Bitdefender Australia will play a key role as we continue to build our business and brand into the APAC region.

"Our channel partners have proven an essential ingredient in our success, and we look forward to working closely with them, locally, to serve and protect more businesses in the region.

SMS eTech managing director Colin Westbury says, "The acquisition was the natural progression of our two companies.

"I look forward to watching Bitdefender accelerate its presence and market penetration in the region.

Worldwide, this entry into the APAC region follows a Bitdefender five-year growth period of staff and revenue, expanded partnerships and leverage of its award-winning consumer brand, technologies and threat intelligence to help businesses secure endpoint, server and virtual desktop workloads running across software-defined, hyperconverged and cloud infrastructure or on the move around the globe.

Bitdefender is a global cybersecurity company providing end-to-end security solutions and advanced threat protection to more than 500 million users in more than 150 countries.