In a sign that tighter credit has not smothered the deal market, Fiserv, a financial services data processing firm, said Thursday it plans to buy CheckFree, a pioneer of electronic payment services, for $4.4 billion in cash.

The transaction price of $48 per share represents a 30 percent premium over Checkfree's closing price Wednesday.

"We are impressed by the people of CheckFree," Fiserv C.E.O. Jeffery Yabuki said in a statement. "Their cultural commitment to clients is consistent with how we do business and this combination will create significant growth opportunities for all of our people."

Fiserv, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, processes electronic payments for all of the country's 100 biggest banks. CheckFree's Electronic Commerce business serves 21 of the country's 25 biggest financial institutions and processes more than 1 billion transactions per year, Fiserv said.

Fiserv said it expects the merger to allow it to cuts costs by more than $100 million a year. At the same time, it expects to realize more than $125 million a year in "revenue synergies." It added that the deal should close by the end of this year and start to increase its earnings immediately.

The combined company will have about $6 billion in revenue, employ more than 27,000 people around the world, and be the world's biggest processor of electronic financial transactions.

CheckFree, of Norcross, Georgia, added that it plans to release its fiscal year 2007 earnings results tomorrow, rather than August 9, 2007, as previously announced.

Credit Suisse and Sullivan & Cromwell advised Fiserv. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz counseled CheckFree.

Related Links:

• CheckFree release: Fiserv to Acquire CheckFree 
• Reuters: Fiserv to Acquire Checkfree for $4.4 Billion
• MarketWatch: Fiserv to Buy CheckFree for $4.4 Billion
• Fiserv results: Solid Financial Segment Results Lead to Margin Expansion and Enhanced Cash Flow