Activist Shareholder Bill Ackman to Oppose Ceridian Buyout, Find Higher Bidder -- WSJ

Ceridian Corp.'s largest shareholder will today that he is opposed to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial Inc.'s $5.3 billion ($36/share) bid for the human-resources/transaction-outsourcing company, according to a Wall Street Journal report. A person familiar with the matter says activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management will also say it has hired bankers (Lazard Ltd. and law firm Sullivan & Cromwell) to solicit a better bid. In a letter to fellow shareholders, Ackman, who is already in a proxy contest with Ceridian's board, argues the bid undervalues the company: "It appears to us that the current deal is an ill-suited response to our proxy contest and is suboptimal for Ceridian stockholders." Ackman will suggest splitting up the company's human-resources and credit-card payment processing units, or applying significant new debt to bolster share prices. Shares are up over 50% since Ackman began amassing his stake in November 2006.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Seeking Alpha
Commentary: Activist Investors: Pay Enough and Ye Shall Be Heard • Pershing Square Capital's William Ackman: Buys, Sells, Portfolio • "Mr. Pressure" Wants Ceridian/Comdata Split -- Barron's
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Ceridian Corp. (CEN), Fidelity National Financial Inc. (FNF). Competitors: Paychex Inc. (PAYX), Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), First Data Corp. (FDC), Hewitt Associates Inc (HEW). ETFs: Vanguard Financials VIPERs (VFH), Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF)

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