NJ firm to buy Avert

Avert Inc. (NASDAQ: AVRT), a Fort Collins-based provider of employee background checks, is set to merge with Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) in an $81 million deal expected to close in the first weeks of August.

ADP, an information services company based in New Jersey, will buy out the remaining Avert stocks at $22 per share. This represents a 25.7 percent premium to Avert’s $17.50 closing price on Friday, when trading volume reached 25,400. Avert stocks opened this morning at $21.40 and trading volumes spiked to nearly 490,000 shares. Avert now stands at $21.53.

“It’s the natural next step from our…