U.S. Bancorp Reaches Accord to Buy Nova Corp.

Midwest regional bank U.S. Bancorp agreed to buy credit card payment-services provider Nova Corp. for $2.1 billion in cash and stock. The combined company would process more than $100 billion in payments in 2001, cementing its position as the third-largest merchant payment processor in the U.S. Under the agreement, shareholders of Atlanta-based Nova can receive either 1.407 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock or $31 in cash for each of their shares, U.S. Bancorp said. The companies expect the deal to close in the third quarter. Nova brings 560,000 small and mid-size business customers to U.S. Bancorp’s 90,000 customers which include larger merchants and airlines. Shares of Nova jumped $5.53, or 24%, to close at $29.05, while U.S. Bancorp fell $1.44 to close at $21.24, both on the NYSE.