Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 2, 2026

Transaction Network Services

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.

Last revised
Jun 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
676 w
Citations
22
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Transaction Network Services
Company type
Private
IndustryData communications
Founded1990
Headquarters
Reston, Virginia
,
United States
Number of locations
60+ countries
Areas served
Key people
  • Mike Keegan
  • Dennis Randolph
  • Mark Cole
  • Jim McLaughlin
Revenue$409.1 million (2019)
Number of employees
1500+
Websitewww.tnsi.com

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 industry1
  • 1994 – Initial public offering – NASDAQ listed2
  • 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 PSINet3 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 PSINet4
  • 2002 – Office opened in Italy
  • 2003 – Acquired Openet (Italy)5 and Transpoll Offline (UK) 6
  • 2004 – Initial Public Offering – NYSE listing7
  • 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
  • 2010 - Acquired Cequint - a mobile Caller ID company. 1213
  • 2013 – Office opened in Taiwan. TNS acquired by Siris Capital Group LLC in a take-private transaction14
  • 2015 – Sells Call Authentication assets to Neustar15
  • 2016 – Received investment led by Koch Equity Development LLC16
  • 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 LLC17
  • 2022 – Acquired AGNITY Global, Inc.;18 First Orion and Hiya joined Neustar and TNS to develop enterprise call authentication standards.19
  • 2023 – Acquired BornTec's managed hosting and colocation business.;20 Acquired West Highland Support Services.21
  • 2024 – Opened AI Labs Poland.22
References

References

  1. "Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Transaction Network Services Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Rensselaer – News & Events".
  2. "TNS INC (TNS) IPO".
  3. Deogun, Nikhil; Journal, Thomas E. Weber Staff Reporters of The Wall Street (August 23, 1999). "PSINet Agrees to Acquire Transaction Network Services". Wall Street Journal.
  4. "Same as it ever was at TNS". January 3, 2002.
  5. "TNS Italy acquires Openet". April 1, 2003.
  6. "Acquisition of Transpoll Offline for TNS (TNS)".
  7. "TNS Prepares to Make Initial Public Offering (washingtonpost.com)". The Washington Post.
  8. "TNS extends secure trading network throughout SE Asia". May 3, 2006.
  9. "TNS looks to buy in channel – CRN".
  10. "TNS acquires Australia's Dialect Payment Technologies". June 19, 2007.
  11. "TNS Set to Purchase a Division of VeriSign". March 9, 2009 – via washingtonpost.com.
  12. "TNS to purchase Cequint". RCR Wireless News. September 9, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  13. "TNS, Inc. to Acquire Cequint, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. September 8, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  14. Turner, Nick. "TNS Agrees to Be Bought by Siris Capital". Bloomberg News.
  15. "Neustar pays $220M for caller authentication business". September 9, 2015.
  16. "Koch Equity invests in Transaction Network Services". January 12, 2016.
  17. "Koch Equity Development Affiliate Enters Agreement to Acquire Transaction Network Services, Positioned For Strategic Growth" (Press release). April 14, 2021.
  18. "AGNITY Acquired by TNS". Bowen. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  19. "First Orion and Hiya Join Neustar and TNS to Unify Enterprise Call Vetting and Authentication Practices Across Largest Mobile Carriers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  20. "TNS Acquires BornTec's Managed Hosting and Colocation Business -". ChannelE2E. April 19, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  21. "TNS acquires West Highland - Asset Servicing Times". www.assetservicingtimes.com. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  22. "TNS Opens AI Labs Poland to Expand AI Capabilities". Business Wire. September 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2025.