Security First Will Buy Rivals
Times Wire Services
Security First Technologies Corp., a developer of Internet application software for financial transactions, agreed to pay $1.4 billion in stock for its two largest rivals, FICS Group of Belgium and Edify Corp. Separately, Intuit Inc., the No. 1 personal-finance software maker, will buy a 2.5% stake in Atlanta-based Security First for $50 million. Security First is paying about $1.08 billion for privately held FICS and $345 million for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Edify. Shares of Security First fell $1 to close at $51, and Edify slipped 63 cents to $14.94. Both trade on Nasdaq.
