Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Fiserv Inc., the manager of check- processing and cash machines for 17,000 companies, agreed to buy CheckFree Corp. for about $4.4 billion, adding software that runs Internet-banking services.

CheckFree shareholders will receive $48 a share, 30 percent more than yesterday's close, Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Fiserv said today in a statement.

Fiserv's biggest acquisition gives it CheckFree's electronic systems for online bill-paying and technology that processes more than 1 billion transactions a year. Fiserv was outbid by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. earlier this year when it tried to buy rival EFunds Corp. for $1.5 billion.

``For people who pay bills online, in most cases they're using CheckFree's capabilities at their bank sites,'' Fiserv Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Yabuki said in an interview. ``That's the premium service and we think it's a huge growth engine for the future.''

Shares of Norcross, Georgia-based CheckFree rose $8.57, or 23 percent, to $45.40 at 4:30 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Shares of Fiserv gained 31 cents to $49.50.

The combination will allow the company to eliminate about $100 million a year in expenses, Fiserv said in the statement. The sale, which the companies expect to close by the end of the year, will add more than $125 million to revenue. The purchase should add to earnings per share in 2008, Fiserv said.

Internet Banking

Electronic payment transactions exceeded check payments for the first time in 2003, according to a 2004 Federal Reserve survey of depository financial institutions.

``Electronic banking is increasing at a significant pace,'' said Benton Gup, a professor of finance at the University of Alabama. ``More financial-services companies are going to offer online banking if they don't already.''

Fiserv expects to pay for part of the purchase with bonds and bank loans, the company said on a conference call today.

The combined company will have about $6 billion in revenue and employ more than 27,000 people.

Pete Kight, CheckFree's chief executive officer, will join Fiserv's board of directors.

Credit Suisse Group and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP advised Fiserv, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz provided advice to CheckFree.

CheckFree also said today that revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30 was about $970 million to $973 million. The average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for revenue of $976.6 million.

Excluding some costs and gains, profit was $1.87 to $1.89 a share, beating the $1.84 average analyst estimate. The company said it will release full results on Aug. 3, instead of the Aug. 9 date previously announced.

To contact the reporters on this story: Will Edwards in Charlotte, North Carolina, at wiedwards@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 2, 2007 16:39 EDT