With the purchase of Square, its historically exclusive distributor since 2001, AVG confirms its commitment to the French domestic market
AMSTERDAM, April 15, 2010 – AVG Technologies, developers of the world’s most popular free anti-virus software, today announced the purchase of Square, currently the exclusive distributor of the French version of AVG Antivirus, and the opening of its office in France. Since 2001, AVG offerings have been distributed exclusively across France and in several other French-speaking countries by Square through the avgfrance.com Internet site and a network of specialized resellers. More than 110 million users worldwide protect their computers and networks with free or paid products from AVG.
Today, AVG Technologies has nearly 6000 partners, distributors and resellers across the world, including 800 of them in mainland France. More than 150,000 users, with an overall combined total of more than one million PCs in France, are protected by AVG products. The company headquarters of Square, now known as AVG Technologies France, is located in the town of Anglet in the south west of France.
“The decision to purchase Square to begin establishing offices in France was a logical one, given that Square has always been marketing our solutions locally. By establishing a local presence in France, we continue to show our commitment to the French domestic market,” said J.R. Smith, CEO, AVG Technologies. “The strong success of AVG, both with general consumers as well as small businesses, administrative bodies, local authorities and other organizations, is further proof of AVG’s leadership solution in terms of quality, performance and price.”
“I am very happy with AVG Technologies’ acquisition of Square, as France represents a key market for us,” said Thierry Bonhomme, former CEO of Square and General Manager of AVG Technologies France. “This will allow us to more rapidly expand our market share and improve even more on the service quality that we provide to our customers – it’s a very motivating time.”
Smith added, “A significant proportion of this success is achieved thanks to our partner network, all of whom daily enjoy the benefits provided by our AVG solutions marketing programs.”
AVG, the world’s fourth largest supplier of antivirus solutions in terms of installed user base, expects that in 2010 it will continue to evaluate and respond to global market needs by expanding its technologies and ensuring an ever-growing consideration of user languages and an ever-expanding compatibility with host operating systems. AVG firmly believes that basic internet protection should be free, and, as such, continues to offer one of the most robust free offerings on the market. AVG is focused on continuing to innovate and expand its protection against computer viruses as well as emerging web threats and malware. AVG offers real-time protection against all Internet threats thanks to its unique, free AVG Linkscanner technology, as well as strong protection of personal data with its IDP module. AVG maintains its constant presence close to its customers with the offer of free technical support via the web, available 7 days a week with rapid responses to all enquiries.
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About AVG Technologies www.avg.com
AVG is a global security software maker protecting more than 110 million consumers and small businesses in 170 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the world. Its free, downloadable software allows novice users to have basic anti-virus protection and then easily upgrade to greater levels of safety and defense when they are ready. AVG has nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!