The agreement will see TSA pay E17.4 million of the purchase price in cash and the remaining in its common stock.

Frankfurt-headquartered EPS offers electronic payment software, testing and simulation tools, chargeback management and outsourced services to companies including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Visa. The company runs offices in Germany, the UK, Romania and Switzerland.

The purchase will give US outfit TSA a valuable foothold in the German market, the third largest electronic payments market in the world, which TSA believes will grow significantly in the coming years.

Philip Heasley, chief executive of TSA, commented: With the advent of the Sepa initiative, we believe that the German market, and indeed many other countries in the European Economic Community, are poised for a significant payment systems replacement cycle. The acquisition of eps will position us to take advantage of opportunities in this key market.

For fiscal 2007, TSA expects the acquisition to contribute $16 million to $18 million in revenue.