Four former executives of Berbee Information Networks have bought back part of the Fitchburg company from CDW and formed their own business, Singlewire Software, also based in Fitchburg.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it took effect Wednesday. The new owners were described as a "small group of private investors."

Singlewire features Berbee Software, including InformaCast technology. The Internet protocol technology is used to alert people within a company or organization of emergencies, security breaches or announcements.

"It’s a very popular tool within schools. It can ring bells and provide overhead paging," said Paul Shain, president and chief executive of Singlewire, and former CEO of Berbee and senior vice president of CDW.

More than 2,000 customers in 35 countries use the applications, he said.

Joining Shain at Singlewire are:

• Ken Bywaters, practice manager for Berbee Software, as executive vice president of product management.

• Greg Sliwicki, former Berbee president and CDW vice president of sales, as executive vice president of sales and marketing.

• Brett Rimkus, former chief financial officer of Berbee and CDW vice president of business development as Singlewire’s CFO.

The 23 engineering and sales employees of Berbee Software also joined Singlewire, which is leasing space from CDW.

Berbee Software, with annual revenues of less than $10 million, was "lost within the big mothership" at CDW, an $8 billion business, Shain said. "We think this can become a very, very sizable company if we just put the management focus on it."

CDW, which sells computer-related equipment and software, bought Berbee, a computer systems developer and data center provider, for $175 million in 2006. The following year, publicly traded CDW was purchased by an affiliate of private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners.