The buyer said it will work with SPS management to pursue organic growth and fund possible acquisitions in the payment processing industry. "We intend to invest further in the technology and offer additional innovative solutions to SPS customers and partners," Collin Roche, GTCR's managing director, said in a prepared statement. SPS has about 100,000 SMB customers. Under an agreement with Sage, SBS will be the preferred merchant processor for Sage clients in this country. Sage is also retaining a financial interest in the payments group and Sage and SPS will work together to maintain integration of their systems. Payments is described as one of three pillars of the software company's business and the line of business is not being sold in other countries. At the company's Summit conference last month, CEO Stephen Kelly said the company would partner to fill the need in this country—and I don't think he meant just with SPS. The North American payments business was a drag on revenue for the first half ended March 31. Without it, organic revenue here would have been up 7 percent, instead of 4 percent.