An activist shareholder of a takeover target has reversed course, saying he now supports Fidelity National Financial Inc.'s $5.3 billion deal to buy the payroll processor Ceridian Corp. of Minneapolis.
William A. Ackman, the founder and general partner of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, said in a proxy statement filed with regulators Tuesday that "significant deterioration in the credit and broader markets" had prompted him to drop his opposition to the Fidelity deal. He said he would vote Pershing Square's 14.9% stake in Ceridian in favor of the $36-per-share deal.
Mr. Ackman said he would continue to press to have himself and six other nominees elected to replace Ceridian's current board.
Ceridian said it welcomed Pershing Square's support for the deal, but it reiterated its backing of the current board.
Fidelity, of Jacksonville, Fla., the nation's largest title insurance company, announced the Ceridian deal in May in partnership with the Boston private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners.
