France’s second largest IT services company, groupe Atos has paid an unspecified sum for US manufacturer Stratus Computer Inc’s 50% share in Astria SA, vendor of software and services for electronic banking. Paris-based Astria, in which Atos already had a 50% stake, had sales of $14m last year. It reckons to be serving roughly half the French electronic banking market, as well as having a presence in the UK, Spain and Belgium. The company specializes in products and services for the development of smart card applications, as well as software for the management of automatic teller machine and point-of-sale terminal networks, online ticket systems, private label cards and loyalty programs.
