Retail Petroleum Systems group, the Dublin-based supplier of computer equipment and computer systems to the Irish petroleum retail market, has been purchased by the UK Torex retail company for €9 million.

The company, which employs 78 staff, provides turnkey solutions and ongoing maintenance to major oil companies as well as local independently owned stations.

Torex said yesterday that it is making an initial €6 million payment, comprising €5 million in cash and €1 million of new Torex shares.

A further €3 million will be paid in the future and is tied to the achievement of certain performance criteria.

Torex Retail provides retail technology solutions to retailers across the world.

It was floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London in 2004 and has been achieving growth in all of its markets. Speaking about the acquisition yesterday, Torex Retail chief executive, Chris Moore, said it would significantly expand its petroleum retailing operations in Ireland and increases the potential for sale of its own products into this market.

"RPS has a very strong management team and the increased critical mass and field engineering infrastructure following the integration of RPS will give rise to enhanced customer service whilst at the same time creating economies of scale," he said.

At the end of January, Retail Petroleum Systems had net assets of €788,000. In the previous year it posted revenues of €12.3 million and a pretax profit of €262,000. No one from the company was available to comment yesterday.

Torex has more than 6,000 customers including Tesco, Woolworth, Selfridges, Shell and Argos. Torex employs more than 2,500 staff in 17 countries.