CheckFree to Acquire Carreker

ATLANTA – Electronic bill payments giant CheckFree announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire financially ailing Carreker, a Dallas-based provider of bank consulting services, for $8.05 a share, or $206 million. CheckFree said the deal will expand its software business and consulting expertise and combine its payments processing services with Carreker’s expertise in check conversion. As a result, the combined organization will be able to convert paper checks into electronic transactions at the earliest possible points in the payments process—whether at the branch, corporate back office of lockbox. Carreker has struggled over the past few years as sales have dried up, and the company reported a loss of $89,000 for its third quarter on $28.3 million in revenues.