Payment Inc. (NASDAQ: IPMT) Chief Executive Officer Gregory Daily is bound and determined to take his company private again. On May 13, 2005, Daily offered to acquire all the outstanding common stock of the company for $38 a share, but iPayment's board of directors rejected the offer, saying it was too low and "undervalued the company." Daily subsequently withdrew his bid.

Nearly six months later, on Nov. 1, he again proposed to buy the company, this time for $43 a share. Ten days later, Daily increased his bid again, to $43.50 a share.

"Mr. Daily informed the Special Committee that this represents his highest and final price," the company stated in a release announcing the news.

"As I have indicated in the past, I firmly believe that a transaction of this sort would reduce the costs and management efforts incident to the company's status as a public company and enable management to focus on operating the company's business and on value creation," Daily wrote in his Nov. 1 proposal.

Following the rejection of Daily's initial bid in May, iPayment formed a special committee of the board of directors to look into other alternatives, including selling the company to another entity or pursuing a recapitalization.

However, Daily wasn't satisfied with these options. "At the price levels the company is seeking, I have decided that I am not prepared to 'roll over' my shares into a transaction led by a third party," Daily wrote.

"... while I am prepared to lead, arrange and organize an acquisition, I am not prepared to invest in a sponsor's or other partner's deal or have my shares treated differently than those of others in such a transaction at these price levels." He said he thinks his offer "represents the best price available."

IPayment provides credit and debit card-based payment processing services to more than 130,000 small merchants in the United States. It reported third quarter 2005 revenue of $175 million. IPayment's initial public offering occurred in May 2003.