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M&A Corner

Who's buying whom.

Ceridian Corp.’s Comdata Corp. unit is buying SASH Mgt. LLC for an unstated price. SASH does business as Gift Card Solutions. (Contact: Comdata Corp., 615-376-6986)

Coinstar Inc. is buying Travelex Money Transfer Ltd. for $27 million in cash. The privately held British firm TMT has a network of 17,000 agent locations in 138 countries; its revenues were about $5.8 million for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2005, with a negative EBITDA of approximately $10.4 million. Coinstar sells prepaid long-distance and wireless airtime; also, gift cards and prepaid debit cards. (Contact: Coinstar Inc., 425-943-8277)

HIMC Corp. signed a letter of intent to buy United States Financial Services Corp. through a stock swap. HIMC is mainly in Internet services; USFS owns Western Clearing Corp. LLC and ACH Processing Co. (Contact: HIMC Corp., 253-284-0320)

Online Resources Corp. is buying Princeton eCom Corp. for $180 million in cash, plus an “earnout” of up to $10 million, depending on future performance. Princeton eCom, which specializes in electronic bill payment and presentment, is privately owned, mainly by venture capitalist firms. Princeton chief executive Ronald W. Averett will head the company’s e-commerce business, including its card, credit, and real-time payments services. The deal includes financing from Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC of $75 million in preferred stock convertible to common at a 25 percent premium to market, and $85 million in senior secured notes, giving Tennenbaum the equivalent of 4.6 million shares, or 14 percent of the company. Tennenbaum also gets a seat on the board. (Contact: Online Resources Corp., 703-653-2248)

S1 Corp. retained Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group as its financial advisor to assist the board of directors in actively exploring the usual “strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.” S1 also hired law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP for further advice in the matter. The move follows settlement of some outstanding disputes with a shareholder group led by Ramius Capital Group, LLC, which gains a seat on the board. S1 insists “No assurance can be given that any transaction will be entered into or consummated as a result of this review.” (Contact: S1 Corp., 404-923-3500)