Ceridian enters into merger agreement with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial
Ceridian Shareholders to Receive $36.00 per Share in Cash Transaction Valued at $5.3 Billion
MINNEAPOLIS/BOSTON/JACKSONVILLE (May 30, 2007) – Ceridian Corporation (NYSE: CEN), Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL Partners”) and Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ceridian will be jointly acquired by THL Partners and FNF in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $5.3 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ceridian shareholders will receive $36.00 per share in cash for each share of common stock they hold. This represents a premium of approximately 17% over Ceridian’s closing share price on February 12, 2007, the last trading day prior to the public announcement that Ceridian had commenced the exploration of strategic alternatives, and a premium of approximately 56% over Ceridian’s closing share price on October 6, 2006, the last trading day prior to the announcement of Kathryn V. Marinello’s appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ceridian.
Ceridian is a leading provider of human resources, transportation and retail information management services, serving businesses and employees in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Ceridian operates through two principal divisions, Human Resource Solutions (HRS) and Comdata. HRS offers a broad range of human resource outsourcing solutions, including payroll processing, tax filing, benefits administration, work-life and employee advisory programs and other HR-related services. HRS serves 25 million employees and 110,000 companies in 38 countries worldwide, including a majority of the Fortune 500. Ceridian’s Comdata division is a major payment processor and issuer of credit, debit and stored value cards, primarily for the trucking and retail industries in the U.S.
“The primary goal of the review of strategic alternatives that we announced on February 13, 2007, was to maximize value for our shareholders,” said L. White Matthews, III, Chairman of Ceridian. “The Board, along with its financial and legal advisors, evaluated a broad range of alternatives and concluded that the sale of Ceridian to THL Partners and FNF represents the best and most certain way to achieve that goal.”
“We are proud to partner with THL Partners, a leading investment firm with a proven track record of success in acquiring and building companies, and FNF, one of the nation’s leading providers of title insurance, specialty insurance and claims management services to large corporate and public sector entities,” said Kathryn V. Marinello, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ceridian. “We believe these firms bring complementary skills which will help us build upon our leadership position as we continue to implement our strategic plan. Our customers will benefit from a company focused on offering repeatable, reliable service at unmatched industry levels. The ongoing efforts of our talented employees around the world are the key to our success and I thank them for their continued hard work and dedication.”
“We are extremely impressed with Kathy Marinello and the management team of Ceridian. We fully support their vision and commitment to all of Ceridian’s customers and employees,” said Scott Jaeckel, Managing Director of THL Partners. “In addition, as we did in Fidelity National Information Services and Sedgwick CMS, we are again investing alongside Bill Foley and his management team. We have tremendous respect for their talents and believe they can bring significant value to this transaction.”
“We are very excited about our investment in Ceridian,” said FNF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William P. Foley, II. “Ceridian has leading market positions in large, growing markets, long-term and diversified customer relationships, recurring and predictable revenue, strong cash flow and a significant margin expansion opportunity. We have a solid track record of managing business transformation and achieving significant cost synergies in past acquisitions. Ceridian has a profile similar to that of Alltel Information Services, which we acquired in 2003 and used as the cornerstone in building what is now Fidelity National Information Services, a nearly $10 billion market cap company. We look forward to the Ceridian acquisition and the opportunity it provides for us to continue to create significant long-term value for FNF shareholders.”
THL Partners and FNF expect to bring co-investors into the transaction. FNF will own less than 50% of Ceridian at closing and will treat the Ceridian investment under the equity method of accounting for financial statement purposes, similar to its minority ownership stake in Sedgwick CMS, and will not consolidate the financial results of Ceridian.
The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including the approval of Ceridian’s shareholders, antitrust and state regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. There is no financing condition to consummate the transaction. The transaction is expected to close following the satisfaction of all closing conditions and completion of a financing marketing period, which is anticipated to occur in the fourth quarter.
The transaction will be presented to Ceridian shareholders for approval at Ceridian’s Annual Meeting, which will be scheduled as soon as practicable following the filing and review of proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In any event, Ceridian intends to hold its Annual Meeting no later than September 21, 2007.
Today’s announcement concludes Ceridian’s previously announced exploration of strategic alternatives. The Ceridian Board, together with its financial and legal advisors, conducted a comprehensive review process in which it evaluated a number of strategic alternatives available to the Company, including those related to its Comdata division. The Board believes that the competitive nature of its strategic review process resulted in a transaction that provides Ceridian shareholders with certain value at levels that compare favorably to other recent transactions in the industry.
Greenhill & Co., LLC is serving as financial advisor to Ceridian and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor. Greenhill & Co. has delivered a fairness opinion to Ceridian in connection with the transaction. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Credit Suisse are providing firm financing commitments to THL Partners and FNF; Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is acting as legal advisor to THL Partners and FNF.
Source: Ceridian
