Protus IP chief executive Joseph Nour.

Internet fax service provider Protus has bought its first company, homegrown e-mail marketing firm GOT Corp.

Protus, whose software-as-a-service (SaaS) suite of products includes the web-based fax service MyFax and the newly introduced my1voice virtual PBX phone service, said it would be buying the Montreal-based company for an undisclosed sum.

GOT Corp. is the provider of the web-based Campaigner and Campaigner Pro advertising services for small and medium-sized businesses, and was founded in Ottawa and San Jose in 1999 before moving its head office to Montreal in 2003. The company closed its first Ottawa office in 2005, but in September 2007 announced that it would be opening a new location in Kanata.

In an interview, Protus CEO Joseph Nour said his company had originally been looking at working out a deal with GOT to distribute Protus products, but the talks then "evolved to a strategic discussion."

"The acquisition increases the breadth of our subscription-based product portfolio and gives Protus rapid entry into the rapidly growing e-mail market space," said Mr. Nour, who noted that Campaigner ranks fifth in terms of its market share in North America. MyFax, he said, commands the second-largest market share in the region.

Mr. Nour said Protus has roughly 200,000 subscribers who will "greatly benefit" from the addition of Campaigner, which itself has a subscription base of 6,000 and includes Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers and AT&T among its clients.

He added that Protus had roughly $40 million in revenues last year, while GOT pulled in roughly $10 million in sales.

"The e-mail marketing space is rapidly growing ... and GOT is a company that has a great geographic proximity to us as well as being a strong player in the space," he said. "We expect the combined products to grow very rapidly over the next several years."

When asked if any layoffs are expected as a result of the deal, Mr. Nour said there "may be some redundancy" on the GOT side, although the company is working to make a smooth transition for all staff.

"This acquisition is intended to provide all with new opportunities, and there will be no job losses for Protus," he added. GOT has about 20 staff in Ottawa and a total workforce of about 75 to 80 employees, including staff at the company's Montreal office, while Protus had about 140 employees as of the end of last year.

Mr. Nour noted that there will be some "consolidation of office space" between the two companies, but that change will likely occur "well into 2009."

The Protus team will remain the same, with several executives at GOT to begin reporting to Protus's existing vice-presidents, he said.