DENVER—Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s $26 billion acquisition of First Data Corp. is on track to close in the third quarter, the head of the money transaction processing company said Friday.
First Data obtained committed bridge financing for debt and equity portions of the transaction and most of the required regulatory approvals, said Ric Duques, chairman and chief executive officer.
“The few remaining regulatory approvals are progressing smoothly, and we do not anticipate any of them will delay our closing beyond the third quarter,” he said.
Shareholders will vote July 31 in New York on the proposed sale to an affiliate of the privately held equity firm. KKR has offered $34 a share, a premium of about 26 percent over First Data’s closing price on March 30.
Duques spoke to analysts during a conference call following First Data’s second-quarter results a day earlier. Net income dropped 51 percent as a result of last year’s spinoff of The Western Union Co., but revenue rose 16 percent.
Analysts generally deemed the second quarter a good performance, noting solid results in all three divisions—commercial, financial institutions and international.
“We hold to the belief that this deal will close, and with this earnings report and no change in the expectations for the business, the deal appears one step closer to completion,” FBR Research analyst Lauren Burk said in a research note.
First Data is a leading processor of electronic money transactions from credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and check cards.
For the quarter ending June 30, First Data reported net income of $229 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with net income of $462.6 million in the second quarter of 2006, or 60 cents a share, which included Western Union’s operations. The company spun off Western Union last September.
The second-quarter earnings from continuing operations were equal to 30 cents a share, First Data said.
Revenue rose 16 percent to $2 billion compared with $1.7 billion in the previous second quarter.
Shares rose 2 cents to $32.35 Friday. In the past year, shares have traded between $21.93 a share and $45.50 a share.
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