Based in Naples for 35 years, the physical headquarters recently closed for ASG Technologies, formerly Allen Systems Group Inc., after it was acquired by Rocket Software, a software development firm founded in Boston in 1990 and privately held by Bain Capital.
“It’s official! ASG Technologies is now a part of Rocket Software,” the company posted Monday morning on ASG’s Facebook and Twitter social media accounts. “On January 15, we will be closing this account and moving all the great ASG content to @Rocket. Be sure to follow Rocket for updates, insights and announcements from our team.”
Rocket announced in April that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Naples-based ASG Technologies in order to grow its portfolio of enterprise software solutions. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Charles Sansbury, who joined ASG in 2015 as its president, chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors, does not have a role at Rocket, said Jillian Saftel Young, account director of V2 Communications, the public relations team for Rocket Software. “None of the ASG chief officers are playing a role at Rocket,” Young said. ASG’s remaining 106 employees in Naples are now employed with Rocket Software but are working remotely from home, she said.
This fall, ASG vacated the office space the local company had been leasing in The Commons professional park off Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples. “Offices were originally closed due to COVID-19 and employees shifted to a work-from-home operation. ASG officially transitioned out of the office space in October 2021,” Young said, noting that former ASG employees in Naples still are thriving with virtual and in-person meetings as Rocketeers, the term Rocket uses for its employees.
Besides two offices ASG operated in India, its other 22 international locations have closed. “ASG’s offices in Chennai and Hyderabad, India, remain open,” Young said. “Rocket has offices around the globe and 37 communities across the globe, each with its own executive sponsor and local community connector, providing flexibility to Rocket’s workforce while also creating connected communities across the globe. Where offices are open, employees can work from there or from home.”
ASG was one of three companies Rocket Software acquired in 2021, according to a December letter Rocket President and CEO Milan Shetti wrote to his staff shortly after taking the company’s helm in November. “As I reflect on the past year at Rocket Software, I am blown away by all we have accomplished together. We added to our amazing, global team of Rocketeers with the additions of Uniface, ASG Technologies and Zumasys,” the letter reads in part.
Allen Systems Group was a multimillion-dollar global company Naples software mogul Arthur L. Allen Jr. founded in 1986 and grew to 70 offices and more than 1,000 employees through more than 60 acquisitions. After decades of success, the company defaulted on its debt in 2012, leading to bankruptcy and Allen’s exit from the company in December 2014. Equity firms purchased Allen Systems, which exited bankruptcy in 2015 with a new name, ASG Technologies.
ASG was headquartered in a three-story, 45,000-square-foot building at 708 Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples. That office and an adjacent twin building also previously owned by Arthur Allen, were sold at a foreclosure auction in November 2018. ASG continued to lease the building until last fall. The office space is now being marketed for lease by Colliers real estate company.
Naples’ loss of ASG is the second major company to abandon Collier County in as many years. ACI Worldwide, the largest global digital payment firm, was headquartered in North Naples until it relocated its operations to Miami in 2020.
