The company behind the popular Adblock Plus software has acquired Flattr, the micropayment service co-founded by Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde. With the deal the two companies hope to take their partnership to the next level, offering publishers a way to get paid without having to show annoying ads.

After Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde cut his ties with the notorious torrent site he moved on to several new projects.

The micropayment system Flattr is one of his best-known ventures. With Flattr, people can easily send money to the websites and services they like, without having to enter their payment details time and time again.

Last year Flattr partnered with Adblock Plus to launch a new service Flattr Plus, allowing publishers to generate revenue directly from readers instead of forcing ads upon them.

Flattr Plus is built on the existing micropayment platform that was launched in 2010. Through a new browser add-on it allows users to automatically share money with website owners when an ad is blocked.

Today, the cooperation between the two companies is strengthened even further after eyeo, the parent company of Adblock Plus, aquired Flattr.

“Over the past ten months, we collaborated closely and in fact, became one team with a joint vision. So it was just natural to remove the remaining structural barriers and make it official,” Sunde says, commenting on the announcement.

“We’re excited to continue our work on the Flattr project to give back control to the users of the internet. They should decide how they want to use the internet and how they want to support the content they enjoy.”

Talking to TorrentFreak, Sunde says that he’ll stay on as an unpaid advisor. He has no official stake in Flattr so Hollywood shouldn’t expect to see any of the proceeds of the deal.

That said, he’s put a lot of work in the company over the past eight years, building it from the ground up, so it’s a big step to let someone else take over.

“It’s just that Flattr is my baby and she got married to someone who will take care of her from now,” says Sunde, summarizing his feelings.

Flattr co-founder Linus Olsson will stay on to lead the Flattr operation, and other staff members will keep their jobs as well. Sunde will have an advisory role in the company, and continues to work on various side-projects, including a new privacy service he’ll launch soon.