Acquisition

Sage Group PLC
23 October 2001

For immediate release

23 October 2001

Sage Group extends presence in French accountants market with acquisition of
Coala


The Sage Group plc ('Sage') announces the acquisition by its wholly owned
subsidiary, Sage Overseas Limited, of Coala Informatique SA, the holding
company of 59% of the shares of Coala SA ('Coala'), and its intention to
launch an offer for the remaining 41% of Coala shares.  Coala, listed on the
French stock market, is a leading vendor of business management software
solutions designed to meet the needs of professional accountants in practice
in France.

Coala Informatique SA was purchased for £7.8m, and the offer for the remaining
Coala shares, on the same basis, values each Coala share at 19 euros.  On this
basis, the total consideration for the whole of the Coala share capital,
satisfied in cash, is expected to be £13.2m.

For the year to 31 December 2001, Coala revenues are expected to be in the
region of £7.0m, and operating profit is expected to be in the region of £
1.1m.

Coala has a growing share of the French market for business management
software solutions for professional accountants, with over 1,300 professional
firms using its products.  The product portfolio includes software for
accounts production, accounting, fixed asset management, reporting and payroll
processing.

The acquisition substantially increases the number of firms of accountants in
France with Sage software solutions.  Sage and Coala will work together to
enhance integration between Sage accounting applications and the Coala
accounts production applications used by firms of accountants in France.

Sage's expansion into the accountants market in France follows its successful
entry into this market in the UK through acquisitions over the last two years.

Paul Walker, Sage Chief Executive, commented 'Industry-specific acquisitions
such as Coala enable Sage to drive growth by offering more products, services
and support to our customers.  Of all industry-specific markets, the market
for professional accountants is the most attractive to us, since professional
accountants are key influencers of their customers' software purchase
decisions'.

For the purposes of this announcement, an exchange rate of £1 = 1.597 euros
has been used


Contacts:
Financial Dynamics                               0207 831 3113
Giles Sanderson
Harriet Keen