Telecom services group Alphyra - formerly known as ITG - has paid €9.6 million (£7.56 million) for the transaction services division of the British group De La Rue. Alphyra is paying €4.8 million in cash and issuing a further 1.1 million of its shares to De La Rue. This means De La Rue will own about 4.5 per cent of Alphyra's enlarged share capital.

The deal means Alphyra will acquire the rights to a pre-paid cellular platform accredited to all the British network operators which currently have electronic top-up facilities - Vodafone, Orange and BT Cellnet. The assets being acquired had losses at the end of March of €2.4 million.

Alphyra also intends to use the De La Rue platform for its own transaction requirements in Britain and other European markets. "This acquisition provides us with an opportunity to consolidate our position in the UK market," said chief executive Mr John Nagle.