Fall-out begins as $400m merger given green light

Security vendor Websense has been quick to swing the axe following the completion of its $400m (£197m) merger with rival SurfControl yesterday.

Up to 15 top-level SurfControl executives and more than 300 SurfControl staff in total have or will be made redundant as Websense attempts to squeeze out duplicate costs.

Sources close to events claim that 65 people in one of SurfControl’s UK locations have already been let go.

Although Pat Dunne, senior director UK and Ireland at Websense, would not comment on specific figures, he emphasised that cost savings were always cited as a major motivation behind the deal.

“Clearly, there is some duplication in resources and cost savings to make, which we made pretty clear in the process of merging. The figure we looked at was making a 70 per cent cost saving, with a significant portion of that coming from people costs.

“But in the UK sales organisation, which is what I look after, we’re going to need a strong sales team going forward. The majority of sales people in SurfControl will be joining the Websense sales organisation going forwards.”