Diebold to Acquire Global Election Systems

Diebold Inc. has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Global Election Systems Inc., Diebold announced June 21.

The agreement in principle includes a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $1.50 per common share of Global Election Systems, subject to a maximum of .05 Diebold shares and a minimum .04 Diebold shares per Global Election Systems shares. Global has about 21 million shares outstanding.

Diebold also will provide $5 million of immediate financing to Global Elections Systems and has agreed to produce more than 500 touch-screen voting terminals to fulfill an existing contract held by Global Elections Systems.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter.

Global Elections Systems, McKinney, Texas, manufactures voting machine equipment. The company, which has about 100 employees, has provided optical scan and touch-screen voting machines to more than 850 jurisdictions in North America.

Diebold Inc., North Canton, Ohio, is a producer of automated teller machines. The company has about 12,500 employees and had sales of $1.7 billion in fiscal 2000, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.