MasterCardInc. agreed to acquire 92.4% of VocaLink Holdings Ltd. tostrengthen its presence in the U.K. payments space.

The U.S. payments network will pay £700 million ($922.6million), after adjusting for cash and certain other estimated liabilities.VocaLink's existing shareholders can earn up to an additional £169 million($222.7 million) if performance targets are met.

VocaLink's shareholders will continue to own 7.6% stake inthe company for at least three years. The company operatespayments technology platforms for U.K. payment schemes, including BACS FasterPayments and LINK. It also designs, builds and operates payment systems.

VocaLink CEO David Yates will join the MasterCard managementcommittee upon completion of the deal.

The deal is expected to be dilutive for up to 24 monthsafter the deal closes. It would reduce EPS in each of 2017 and 2018 by 5 centsif it closes in early 2017.