Affiliated Computer Services Inc founder Darwin Deason and private equity fund Cerberus Capital Management offered to buy the company for $5.9 billion and take it private after a stock-option scandal hurt the shares.

Affiliated Computer Services Inc founder Darwin Deason and private equity fund Cerberus Capital Management offered to buy the company for $5.9 billion and take it private after a stock-option scandal hurt the shares.

Deason and Cerberus offered $59.25 a share for Affiliated, the largest processor of student-loan payments, according to a statement Tuesday. The total value of the deal would be $8.2 billion including debt.

Deason, also the company's chairman, weighed a sale last year and may be reconsidering after growth slowed and Affiliated ousted officials during an options probe. “By aligning with Cerberus, Darwin is saying he's serious about entertaining offers,” said Joseph Vafi, an analyst at Jefferies & Co in San Francisco, who rates the shares “buy” and doesn't own any.

“There's probably room for a higher bid.” Citigroup Global Markets Inc is advising Deason and Cerberus. Deason founded Affiliated in 1988 as a computer services provider that processed bank transactions. Through a series of purchases, the company built a business that handles data for the US government and is one of the top Medicaid processors. Affiliated, with customers including McDonald's Corp and Walt Disney Co, is among the top 10 computer outsourcing firms, according to A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.

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