Software firm Torex Retail, which employs more than 100 staff at its Oxfordshire headquarters, has been sold to US private equity buyer Cerberus for £204.4m.

The sale is expected to secure the future of Torex, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, but no assurances were given on jobs at its Witney or Banbury offices.

Torex employs about 2,500 worldwide. Shareholders and unsecured creditors will get nothing after the holding company called in KPMG as administrators.

Vickey Wallis, head of marketing, said it was too early to comment on redundancies, but said pension schemes would be unaffected by the transaction.

Torex's shares were suspended at the beginning of the year following a profits warning made just a week after the firm boasted of "significant" new business wins.

Oxfordshire-based Torex, which makes software for tills and checkouts used by retailers such as Tesco and Woolworths, was previously part of NHS software provider iSoft until it demerged from the group in 2004.

Steve Marshall, the chairman of the Torex holding company, said the sale of the business was the "only viable option" to the board in a "uniquely challenging situation".