Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts says it will buy First Data, the world's largest credit card payment processor for approximately $29 billion.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts says it will buy First Data, the world's largest credit card payment processor for approximately $29 billion.

The deal, which amounts to $34 per share, a 26.4% premium to First Data's closing price Friday, is only one of a number of recent KKR buyouts, which include utility company TXU and retailer Dollar General.

First Data said it expects the deal to close by the end of the third quarter of 2007. With a market capitalization of more than $20 billion, First Data is the largest publicly traded American electronic transaction processing company.

The First Data deal was unanimously approved by First Data's board of directors, but the company will entertain other bids for the next 50 days and "actively solicit proposals during this period."

The deal stirred hopes that competitors including MasterCard, Western Union, Fidelity National Information Services, Total System Services and Alliance Data Systems might now be acquisition targets as well.

To read more about this story, go to Forbes.com

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