Transaction Network Services Explained

Transaction Network Services (TNS) is a privately held, multinational company in the payments, financial and telecommunications industries. TNS is the supplier of networking, integrated data, and voice services to many organizations in the global payments and financial communities, as well as a provider of telecommunications network solutions to service providers.

History

• 1990 – TNS founded in the US to provide services to the point-of-sale/payments industry^[1]
• 1994 – Initial public offering – NASDAQ listed^[2]
• 1995 – TNS' Telecommunications Services division launched
• 1996 – International offices launched in the UK, Canada and Ireland and TNS' Financial Services division launched
• 1998 – Acquired AT&T's Transaction Access Service (USA)
• 1999 – Offices opened in Australia, France and Japan. Processing services launched in the UK. Listed on the NYSE.
• 1999 – Acquired by PSINet^[3] for $705 million (US$1.1 Billion (2019))
• 2000 – Office opened in Spain
• 2001 – Management, in conjunction with private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, bought back TNS from PSINet^[4]
• 2002 – Office opened in Italy
• 2003 – Acquired Openet (Italy)^[5] and Transpoll Offline (UK) ^[6]
• 2004 – Initial Public Offering – NYSE listing^[7]
• 2005 – Acquired Connect Ro (Romania)
• 2006 – Offices opened in India, Thailand and South Korea.^[8] Acquired Comms XL (UK),^[9] InfiniRoute Networks Inc. (USA), Sonic Inc. (USA) and JPG Telecom SAS (France)
• 2007 – Acquired Dialect Payment Technologies (Australia)^[10]
• 2008 – Offices opened in Hong Kong and Singapore
• 2009 – Acquired Verisign's Communication Services Group (USA)^[11]
• 2013 – Office opened in Taiwan. TNS acquired by Siris Capital Group LLC in a take-private transaction^[12]
• 2015 – Sells Call Authentication assets to Neustar^[13]
• 2016 – Received investment led by Koch Equity Development LLC^[14]
• 2017 – Offices opened in New Zealand and the Philippines
• 2018 – Acquired Advam
• 2019 – Acquired Link Solutions (Brazil), OpSiSe (France), and R2G (Chicago)
• 2021 – Acquired by Koch Equity Development LLC^[15]
• 2022 – Acquired AGNITY Global, Inc.;^[16] First Orion and Hiya joined Neustar and TNS to develop enterprise call authentication standards.^[17]
• 2023 – Acquired BornTec’s managed hosting and colocation business.;^[18] Acquired West Highland Support Services.^[19]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Transaction Network Services Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Rensselaer – News & Events.
2. Web site: TNS INC (TNS) IPO.
3. Web site: PSINet Agrees to Acquire Transaction Network Services. Nikhil. Deogun. Thomas E. Weber Staff Reporters of The Wall Street. Journal. Wall Street Journal . 23 August 1999.
4. Web site: Same as it ever was at TNS. 3 January 2002.
5. Web site: TNS Italy acquires Openet. 1 April 2003.
6. Web site: Acquisition of Transpoll Offline for TNS (TNS).
7. News: TNS Prepares to Make Initial Public Offering (washingtonpost.com). .
8. Web site: TNS extends secure trading network throughout SE Asia. 3 May 2006.
9. Web site: TNS looks to buy in channel – CRN.
10. Web site: TNS acquires Australia's Dialect Payment Technologies. 19 June 2007.
11. Web site: TNS Set to Purchase a Division of VeriSign. 9 March 2009. washingtonpost.com.
12. Web site: TNS Agrees to Be Bought by Siris Capital. Nick. Turner. .
13. Web site: Neustar pays $220M for caller authentication business. 9 September 2015.
14. Web site: Koch Equity invests in Transaction Network Services. 12 January 2016.
15. Koch Equity Development Affiliate Enters Agreement to Acquire Transaction Network Services, Positioned For Strategic Growth. 14 April 2021.
16. Web site: AGNITY Acquired by TNS . 2025-09-05 . Bowen . en-US.
17. News: First Orion and Hiya Join Neustar and TNS to Unify Enterprise Call Vetting and Authentication Practices Across Largest Mobile Carriers . 2025-09-05 . The Globe and Mail . en-CA.
18. Web site: 2023-04-19 . TNS Acquires BornTec's Managed Hosting and Colocation Business - . 2025-09-05 . ChannelE2E . en.
19. Web site: TNS acquires West Highland - Asset Servicing Times . 2025-09-05 . www.assetservicingtimes.com.