SOFTWARE giant Sage has paid £16.7m to take over an Ireland-based card payment processing company.

The Newcastle-based plc has bought Integral Computers Limited through its subsidiary Sage Pay Europe. The 23-year-old Dublin firm works with more than 25,000 points of sale in the UK and Ireland and has processed around 100 million purchases in the last 12 months.

Following the acquisition, Integral will be rebranded Sage Pay and will be fully integrated into the Sage Pay business, building on Sage Pay’s existing card holder capability. Integral’s 40 employees will be retained within the Sage Pay business.

Sage chief executive officer Guy Berruyer said: “The Integral business is highly complementary to our business and marks Sage Pay’s entry into the cardholder present market in the UK and Ireland.

“The acquisition broadens Sage Pay’s customer offering, significantly extends Sage Pay’s addressable market, offers attractive integration and cross-sell opportunities for Sage and is the type of acquisition which increases our exposure to higher growth segments.”

Simon Black, Sage Pay chief executive officer said: “The team at Integral has established an outstanding point of sale card processing service that will enable Sage Pay to provide true best-in-class multi-channel payment services.

“The two businesses share the same vision to deliver a great customer experience founded on brilliant software.

“Sage offers a unique service proposition in payments and the acquisition of Integral offers even more value to our customers and business partners.”