24 Sep PKWare acquired by investment groups
An investor group said Wednesday it has acquired PKWare Inc., a Milwaukee software company that popularized a data compression system commonly referred to as “zipping.”
Novacap Technologies of Montreal was the lead investor and acquired the majority of PKWare’s stock. Also participating were Maranon Capital of Chicago and Garrett Investments, an investment holding company affiliated with Milwaukee-based Grace Matthews.
The deal will help PKWare expand distribution of its flagship PKZip product and another called SecureZip that encrypts data so that hackers who’ve broken in can’t read it, said Doug Mitman, a managing director at Grace Matthews.
PKWare has more than 80 employees, with 50 of them in Milwaukee, Mitman said. Novacap is viewing PKWare as a platform company that likely will be making acquisitions and adding jobs locally, he said.
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