On paper, it is a merger, but in reality the $2.8 billion deal between Reynolds and Reynolds Co. and Universal Computer Systems Inc. is a takeover.
Bob Brockman, the owner and founder of UCS, a Houston-based company with 750 dealerships customers, is the one who put the funding together with a private investment group.
Reynolds, as a result, will transform from a public to a private company.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Security Exchange Commission still must approve the deal. Meanwhile, Reynolds' shareholders will vote on it this month.
The investment group would pay Reynolds' shareholders $40 per share. The stock price, in the mid to high $20s as late as July, jumped more than 11% and was trading at $39 a share after the news.
Although UCS is the buyer, the name goes away while the Reynolds' name stays. Finbar O'Neill will continue as CEO of the transformed company.
