JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fidelity Information Systems, the provider of back-office services to credit unions and banks, announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire competitor Metavante Technologies in a stock-swap valued at $3 billion.
The combination is the latest in a long-string of deals involving Fidelity, created by the merger of eight smaller service providers, then the spin-off from Fidelity National Title. Metavante itself was spun off in 2007 from Marshall & Ilsley Bancorp.
Fidelity National provides transaction processing, card issuer and outsourcing services for more than 14,000 financial institutions. Milwaukee-based Metavante provides banking and payments technologies for about 8,000 financial firms.
The new executive team will integrate employees from both companies. Lee Kennedy, Fidelity National's current president and chief executive, will become executive vice chairman with the responsibility of overseeing the integration of Metavante. Metavante's current chairman and CEO, Frank Martire, will be named president and CEO of Fidelity National. Gary Norcross will continue to serve as chief operating officer after the deal closes, while Michael Hayford will become chief financial officer. Hayford is currently the president and COO at Metavante.
The combined board will be made up of six Fidelity National directors and three Metavante directors.
To help finance the deal, Fidelity National said it will receive equity investments from other firms, including affiliates of private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and title and specialty insurance firm Fidelity National Financial Inc. Fidelity National Information Services will issue about 16 million shares for those new investments.
