Checkfree Corp (MM) (NASDAQ:CKFR)
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CheckFree to Acquire American Payment Systems to Establish Leadership Position
in the Walk-In Bill Payment Market
ATLANTA, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Corporation , the leading
provider of financial electronic commerce services and products, today announced
an agreement with UIL Holdings Corporation to acquire American Payment Systems,
Inc. (APS), a leading U.S. provider of walk-in bill payment services.
Based in Wallingford, Connecticut, APS provides walk-in bill payment services
through an extensive national network of more than 8,000 retail and agent
locations, which reaches 70 percent of consumers in the top 75 U.S. metropolitan
areas. Today, APS enables 7 million households to pay for services in-person.
The company serves hundreds of billers with contracted payment services and
manages a growing network of non-contracted billers for electronic transaction
processing. For 2003, APS expects to process nearly 120 million payments.
"This new bill payment channel significantly extends our reach in electronic
billing and payment. CheckFree is the leading provider of electronic billing and
payment services, but we do not reach the 20 percent of the U.S. population who
pay their bills in person in retail locations around the country," said Pete
Kight, chairman and chief executive officer of CheckFree. "Combining APS' retail
footprint with our current electronic billing and payment offering greatly
enhances our value proposition to billers. In addition, APS' walk-in bill
payment transactions leverage the efficiencies and economies of scale delivered
through our end-to-end payment processing infrastructure."
Under the terms of the agreement, and pending receipt of regulatory approvals
and satisfaction of customary closing conditions, CheckFree will pay
approximately $110 million in cash for the outstanding stock of APS. The
transaction is expected to close before the end of CheckFree's 2004 fiscal year,
which closes on June 30, 2004. CheckFree will provide specific financial
guidance for this transaction upon closing.
As part of the deal, CheckFree also acquires APS' prepaid stored value
MasterCard business, which leverages the same retail network to provide APS
agents with an additional payment service to meet the needs of consumers who may
not have an established banking relationship. CheckFree is not acquiring APS'
prepaid telephony business, which is managed via a joint venture and is not
aligned strategically with CheckFree's goals for the acquisition. The lines of
business that CheckFree is acquiring have combined annual revenue, net of
certain agent commissions, of more than $40 million per year.
About American Payment Systems ( http://www.apsnet.com/ )
American Payment Systems (APS) is a leading provider of walk-in bill payment
services, accepting bill payments on behalf of 200+ clients at over 8,000
national retail locations. Annually, APS processes approximately 120 million
transactions for those that want or need to pay their bills in person. Realizing
their expertise in the business of moving money and information, APS expanded
their products and services to include both authorized and non- contracted
walk-in bill payment, a line of prepaid products including a prepaid
MasterCard(R) card, and prepaid telephony.
About CheckFree ( http://www.checkfreecorp.com/ )
CheckFree (NASDAQ:CKFR) is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce
services and products. Founded in 1981 and celebrating its 23rd year in
e-commerce, CheckFree is comprised of three divisions: Electronic Commerce,
Software, and Investment Services. CheckFree launched the first fully integrated
electronic billing and payment solution in 1997. In the quarter ended September
30, 2003, more than 11 million consumers initiated online payments through
services offered by CheckFree's Electronic Commerce division. Electronic billing
and payment is available through more than a thousand financial services
organizations, including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and personal
financial management (PFM) software. At these sites, consumers are able to
electronically receive and pay about 300 bills, representing the bills most
common to a U.S. household. CheckFree delivers nearly 15 million e-bills each
quarter. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment
management services to thousands of financial institutions nationwide. The
division's clients manage more than 1.3 million portfolios totaling more than
$700 billion in assets.
CheckFree's Software division provides solutions through three operating units:
CheckFree ACH Solutions, CheckFree Financial and Compliance Solutions (CFACS),
and CheckFree i-Solutions. CheckFree ACH Solutions provides software and
services that are used to process more than two-thirds of the nation's nine
billion Automated Clearing House payments, while CFACS provides reconciliation,
financial messaging, workflow and compliance software and services to more than
600 organizations in banking, brokerage, investment management, insurance and
credit card industries, among others. CheckFree i- Solutions is the leading
provider of e-billing and e-statement software and services for both
business-to-consumer and business-to-business applications, with more billers as
clients than all of its competitors have combined.
Certain of CheckFree's statements in this press release are not purely
historical, and as such are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements
regarding management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or projections
of the future. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
including without limitation, the risk that regulatory approvals of the
transaction may not be obtained, the various risks inherent in CheckFree's
business, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in
CheckFree's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including CheckFree's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30,
2003 (filed September 15, 2003), and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2003 (filed November 13, 2003). One or more of these
factors have affected, and could in the future affect CheckFree's business and
financial results in future periods, and could cause actual results to differ
materially from plans and projections. There can be no assurance that the
forward-looking statements made in this press release will prove to be accurate,
and issuance of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a
representation by CheckFree, or any other person, that the objectives and plans
of CheckFree will be achieved. All forward- looking statements made in this
press release are based on information presently available to management, and
CheckFree assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation
CONTACT: Media Relations, Judy DeRango Wicks, +1-678-375-1595, or
, or Investor Relations, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, or
, both of CheckFree Corporation
Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/821650.html