Paychex to purchase SurePayroll of Illinois for $115 million

Nate Dougherty//December 9, 2010//

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Paychex Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire SurePayroll Inc., the nation’s leading provider of software-as-a-service payroll processing for small businesses, in a $115 million deal.

SurePayroll, a privately held company founded in 2000 and based in Illinois, serves close to 30,000 small businesses with its online payroll product. The transaction is expected to close by year’s end and is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions, Paychex officials said.

SurePayroll will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Paychex; Michael Alter will continue as president of SurePayroll. The company employs some 140 full-time workers. It reported processing more than $4.5 billion in employee payrolls and taxes in 2009.

The acquisition combines the next-generation, Web-based payroll platform used at SurePayroll with Paychex’s 40 years of payroll experience and world-class customer service, company officials said.

“We are excited to have SurePayroll join the Paychex family,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “This acquisition helps Paychex expand further into a new segment of the online market for small business—a fast-growing part of the market that we believe will continue to thrive.”