Ceridian Plans Reverse Spinoff of Arbitron

Ceridian Corp. said it plans a reverse spinoff of its Arbitron radio and television ratings unit to shareholders to focus on its human resources and cash-transfer businesses. The date and distribution ratio haven’t been set. Arbitron measures audiences for radio stations and Webcasts; Minneapolis-based Ceridian and its Comdata unit offer benefit, payroll and other services. Arbitron would stil be based in New York, with an operations center in Columbia, Md. Although a reverse spinoff achieves the same results as a traditional spinoff, the larger unit--in this case, Ceridian--is the part that is spun off. Ceridian will assign about $250 million in debt to Arbitron and keep about $300 million in remaining debt, a spokeswoman said.