Tier buys government firm

Tier Technologies Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., is acquiring Official Payments Corp. for $74.5 million in cash. Tier is paying $3 a share for the stock of Official Payments, Stamford, Conn. The deal is expected to close in August.

Tier is picking up 1,200 state and local clients, a major contract with the Internal Revenue Service, a proven software platform and a data center, said James Bildner, Tier's chairman and chief executive officer.

Following the acquisition, Tier will be able to offer Official Payments' clients Tier's consulting expertise in systems design and development and other transaction-based financial consulting services that Official Payments previously could not offer, Bildner said. Official Payments had revenue of about $32 million for the year ended March 31.