Euronet says its subsidiary - Euronet Payments & Remittance - will acquire 100% of La Nacional's common stock. The transaction will close during the second quarter of 2007, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Established in 1984, La Nacional specialises in providing money transfer services between the US and Latin America, primarily to the Dominican Republic. The company provides money transfer services from 15 states in the US and approximately half its distribution volume goes to the Dominican Republic.

Remittances to the Dominican Republic from the US were about $1.6 billion in 2005, says the vendor, citing the Inter-American Development Bank.

Euronet says the acquistion will also expand its presence in the Northeast US where 90% of the one million Dominicans residing in the US reside, according to a 2004 survey by Bendixen & Associates.

Michael Brown, Euronet worldwide chairman and CEO, says: "Through La Nacional, we have the opportunity to gain a strong retail foothold in New York, the second-largest remittance sending state, and other neighbouring states."

Brown says the new unit would also complement Ria Envia (Ria), a global money transfer firm that Euronet acquired in November 2006.

"Both RIA and La Nacional have established high-potential money transfer corridors from the US and internationally beyond the traditional US to Mexico corridor," says Brown. "We see this as a strong advantage to growing our market share in other key regions."

The La Nacional deal should add between one and two cents a share to Euronet's 2007 earnings, says Brown, excluding any one-time items.