CheckFree / PhoneCharge

CheckFree Corp. said on Tuesday it bought PhoneCharge Inc., an online bill payment service provider, for approximately $100 million in cash.

CheckFree, an e-commerce service provider, said it expects the acquisition, which closed on Jan. 1, to be neutral to 2006 earnings and to add to earnings thereafter.

Shares of CheckFree, which have traded between $32.33 and $50.55 over the past 52 weeks, closed up by 68 cents, at $46.58, on the Nasdaq.

(c) AP