Affiliated Computer Services Beats Street; Committee Reviewing Sweetened Offer

Affiliated Computer Services reported fiscal Q3 net income increased 6.5% to $82.1 million, or $0.82/share, topping the Street's estimate of $0.80. Sales grew 9.6% to $1.44b, in-line with analysts' forecast. Affiliated founder Darwin Deason and Cerberus Capital Management LP sweetened their offer on April 21 to take the company private for $6.21b ($62/share) -- from $59.25, previously bid on Mar. 20. Affiliated announced a special committee has been formed by the board of directors to evaluate the company's strategic alternatives, including the raised bid. Shares of Affiliated closed unchanged yesterday at $59.91. It has traded in a range of $46.50 - $61.67 over the past 52-weeks, having rallied this year on the possibility of a takeover, after falling 17% in 2006 due to a backdated stock options investigation.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg, MarketWatch
Commentary: Affiliated Computer Services Receives Buyout Offer from Founder, Cerberus • Post 9-11 Backdating Issues: The War at Home • Affiliated Computer Services Earnings Conference Call Transcript (later today)
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS). Competitors: Accenture Ltd. (ACN), Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.