Payment processing business Nomad Payments, which specialises in the prepaid and debit card market, has been acquired by US banking technology provider Metavante Technologies for $58 million (£30 million).

Payment processing business Nomad Payments, which specialises in the prepaid and debit card market, has been acquired by US banking technology provider Metavante Technologies for $58 million (£30 million). The sale provides an exit for VCTs managed by SPARK Ventures and Foresight Group, which both say they have doubled their original investments in the business.

The Quester VCTs, which were acquired by SPARK last year, have been investors in Nomad since 2000. Quester VCT, Quester VCT 4 and Quester Venture Partnership invested a total of £7.9 million in a number of funding rounds.

Foresight VCT 4 co-invested with the Quester VCTs, contributing £1.8 million.

Andrew Carruthers, CEO of SPARK Ventures, says: ‘As a long-term investor in Nomad, the Quester funds have seen the transformation of the company from a small early-stage business into a leading market participant.’

Frank R. Martire, Metavante president and CEO, comments: ‘Acquiring Nomad presents [us] with the opportunity to establish a European centre of operations, with an established client base, multi-currency capabilities, high-volume processing platform, proven business model and an established European sales channel.’

Established in 1991 as a card payments software provider, Nomad established its payment division in 2005. Its clients in the debit and prepaid card processing sector include Clydesdale Bank and Newcastle Building Society, while its software is used by banks in Poland, Romania and Ukraine, among other countries.