Making the announcement, Martin noted that Digital River’s decision to establish at Shannon Free Zone adds significantly to Ireland’s emerging profile as a leading e-commerce business centre in Europe.

"This investment is very welcome news for Shannon and was secured by Shannon Development against strong competition from other European locations," he explained.

"Digital River can be confident of finding highly skilled professionals and infrastructure of international standards in this part of the country. More and more companies are discovering the benefits of locating in regional centres throughout Ireland and Digital River is an example of the type of company we want to attract," he added.

The Shannon Free Zone is a 243 hectare Business Park adjacent to Shannon International Airport on the West Coast of Ireland. It is administered by Shannon Development, an Irish government agency whose aims are to establish foreign direct investment on the Shannon Free Zone and to support existing foreign enterprises in expanding their businesses. Companies locating there receive advice and assistance when setting up a business at Shannon and introductions to relevant contacts such as lawyers, accountants, and recruitment companies.

According to Shannon Development, the zone generates annual exports of EUR2.5 billion per year. Companies which have invested at Shannon include, Avocent, GE Capital, Ingersol Rand, Intel, Lufthansa Technik Mentor Graphics, Molex, RSA Security and Veritas Software.

Digital River’s Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Tim McCauley commented: “Our operation in Ireland represents an important part of our long-term strategy to expand our international footprint. Key influencing factors in our choice of Shannon were a favourable business environment, a high quality of life for employees, and the support of Shannon Development.”

Shannon Development’s Chief Executive, Kevin Thompstone, added that Digital River's decision to locate in the free zone was "a tremendous boost for Shannon".

"It is one of the largest projects to locate at the Shannon Free Zone in recent years. We believe a project of this scale and technology content will encourage other international technology players to include Shannon in their European location analyses," he noted.

Digital River, with corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, builds and manages online businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers.

The company’s client list includes market leaders, such as Adobe Systems Incorporated; Canon, Europa, N.V.; CompUSA, Inc.; H&R Block Inc.; Microsoft Corp.; and SymantecCorp.