Acquisitive business software house Sage has added human resources (HR) capabilities to its portfolio with the acquisition of Snowdrop Systems for £17m.

Snowdrop develops mid-market HR solutions and reported a before tax and interest profit of £1.1 million on revenues of £7.5 million in the year to 31 December 2006. According to Sage chief executive Paul Walker, Snowdrop will complement Sage’s existing products.

It’s a significant move for for the FTSE 100 company, which dominates the UK market for accounting software. So far Sage has only offered payroll products and an advice line in the HR market, while rival developers such as Oracle, CedarOpenAccounts and IRIS have broadened their product lines with HR acquisitions and programs.

Alongside the Snowdrop deal, Sage is also about to launch an HR program for smaller businesses.

Snowdrop chief executive Michael Richards commented: “Snowdrop joining Sage presents a number of exciting opportunities for both our customers and our employees. The additional resource and support that Sage can provide, combined with Snowdrop’s expertise, means that we can realise our full potential. We will continue to support our existing customers and offer Snowdrop software as standalone solutions whilst at the same time developing software and services for Sage’s existing and future customers.”