New York-based ACI Worldwide, which operates software used to process electronic payments, is acquiring S1 Corp. of Norcross for $360 million in cash and 5.8 million in ACI shares.
An announcement Monday about the acquisition said the boards of both companies have approved the transaction and S1 shareholders have until the end of the month to tender their shares. The impact of the move on employees -- ACI has 2,134 while S1 has 1,670 -- is not known at this time, leaders of the companies said.
The deal comes three months after ACI began attempting to buy S1, according to The Associated Press. In July, ACI offered to buy S1 for $540 million in cash or $9.50 per share in stock. It made another bid in August -- about $502 million -- taking it to S1's shareholders. But S1's board advised shareholders to decline the offer, AP reported.
In the meantime, S1 courted a deal with Fundtech Ltd., an Israeli bank services company. But Fundtech was sold in September to the private equity firm GTCR for $352.7 million in cash.
ACI leaders said the acquisition of S1 will help ACI save $30 million, though the company did not spell out how that would work.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with S1 and believe that together we will create a leader in the global enterprise payments industry,” Philip G. Heasley, the president and chief executive officer of ACI, said in a release.
ACI's stock closed Monday on the NASDAQ at $25.26 per share, down $2.28 or 8.28 percent. S1 closed on the NASDAQ at $9.06, down 11 cents or 1.2 percent.
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