A HIGH-TECH firm from California’s Silicon Valley has bought a Liverpool business and plans  to use the city as its European headquarters.

Reputation.com, which specialises in helping people and companies to protect their privacy  online, has taken over Liverpool city centre-based firm Reputation 24/7.

Michael Fertik, founder and chief executive of Reputation.com, said he planned to invest in the  office and create jobs to help the company “dominate” the UK market.

He said: “With this acquisition, Reputation.com is expanding Silicon Valley to the United Kingdom and opening the door to a strong market for future growth.

“Reputation 24/7 exemplifies the best of the UK’s robust tech industry and its capabilities
align nicely with our core strengths.  This acquisition supports our growing international
presence, which includes customers in more than 100 countries.”

Mr Fertik told the Post that he had chosen Liverpool ahead of London and Germany because  of the quality of the city’s workforce and universities.

He added: “The other great thing about Liverpool is that Liverpool people want to stay in  Liverpool. That gives us a stable workforce, and that’s a terrific resource for a company like  ours.”