Thirdforce, the Irish e-learning group, said yesterday it planned further acquisitions after completing a €500,000 takeover of AV Edge, a digital media company specialising in education.

Chief executive Mr Brendan O'Sullivan said Thirdforce was committed to growth through acquisition and was in talks with a number of other education service providers.

Declining, to set a time limit or to identify which firms were targeted, Mr O'Sullivan said the AV Edge deal marked the "start of a process".

Last year Thirdforce, then trading as Rapid Technology, bought e-learning specialist Electronic Paper for €15.5 million. The consideration for the AV Edge takeover was 771,033 new ordinary shares and €245,475 cash.

Mr O'Sullivan said yesterday: "This transaction is in line with our stated strategy of acquiring businesses and establishing partnerships that significantly broaden our product range and distribution channels."

AV Edge has its headquarters in Dublin and employs seven. It reported a €29,000 operating profit on €887,000 turnover for the financial year ended June 30th last.

Under stock exchange rules the deal is a related-party transaction as Mr Pat McDonagh, Thirdforce chairman and a substantial shareholder in the group, also holds a stake in AV Edge. The acquisition will see Mr McDonagh raise his holding in Thirdforce by 115,628 new ordinary shares, with the remaining shareholders in AV gaining 665,405 new ordinary shares.

Thirdforce recently reported a 14 per cent fall in full-year pre-tax losses to 1.53 million. Interim results for the 12 months to June 30th, 2003 showed turnover grew 20 per cent to €4 million from 3.33 million in 2002. Electronic Paper made an operating profit of 270,000, while continuing operations lost 1.5 million over that period.

Rapid Technology was established by Mr McDonagh, an entrepreneur who also founded SmartForce and Riverdeep.