Ceridian Agrees to $5.3B Buyout

Ceridian(CEN Quote) late Wednesday entered into merger agreement with investment firm Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial(FNF Quote) in an all-cash cash deal valued at roughly $5.3 billion.

Ceridian shareholders, under the terms of the agreement, will receive $36 a share for each share of common stock they hold. The deal represents more than a 5% premium over Ceridian's closing price on Wednesday of $34.19 and roughly 17% over Ceridian's closing share price on Feb. 12, 2007, before it said it "commenced the exploration of strategic alternatives."

Insurance company Fidelity will own less than 50% of at closing, which is expected after the company's annual meeting no later than Sept. 21, according Ceridian.

In recent after-hours trading, shares of the Minneapolis-based human resources, transportation and retail information management outsourcer gained 4.1%.

Fidelity shares closed the regular session up 2.1% to $27.57; they lost 7 cents after hours.

Earlier in May, Ceridian fired executive Gary Krow, for allegedly holding unauthorized discussions with a hedge fund that is pushing management to sell the unit.