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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (44079)	4/2/2007 1:13:24 PM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69967

First Data Accepts $25.6B Buyout Monday April 2, 12:30 pm ET Credit Card Processor First Data Being Agrees to Go Private for About $25.6B in Cash DENVER (AP) -- Credit card transaction processor First Data Corp. said Monday that it is being acquired by an affiliate of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for about $25.6 billion in cash. ADVERTISEMENT The $34 per share deal is an approximately 26 percent premium over First Data's closing price on Friday. First Data shares climbed $5.61, or about 21 percent, to $32.51 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange after briefly rising to a 52-week high of $32.90. Under terms of the agreement, First Data can solicit third party proposals over the next 50 days and the company said it plans to actively solicit proposals. It has about 754 million shares outstanding. The company put the total value of the transaction at $29 billion, but was unable to say how much of that was debt being assumed by the buyer. In a Feb. 23 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company list about $2.2 billion in medium- and long-term notes. First Data said it plans to tender for all of its outstanding bonds in conjunction with the closing. First Data's board has approved the transaction. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the third quarter, subject to shareholder approval, regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. The deal is not contingent on financing by the investor group. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch have committed to provide debt financing for the transaction subject to customary terms and conditions, and are acting as financial advisers to Kohlberg. [Harry: There are a lot of firms going private. I wonder if it is an indication of the amount of pension fund money floating around that can't find very good quality investments. As a result, the pension fund money is being used to buy companies that generate cashflow but has very low or no growth. Some growth they are hoping to gain by taking the company private in order to gain operation efficiencies of not having to report to the public.]