Protection One Inc., the only publicly traded company that is based in Lawrence, is going private in a deal valued at $828 million, which includes refinancing of Protection One debt.

The company, with headquarters in the I-70 Business Center at 1035 N. Third St. in North Lawrence, is being sold to affiliates of GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Protection One provides electronic monitoring services for residential, commercial and wholesale customers. The company had announced in January that it was launching a review of strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company.

Terms for the planned sale, announced Monday: an affiliate of GTCR would make a tender offer for all outstanding common stock for $15.50 per share in cash, then a merger to acquire all remaining shares at that same price.

The offer represents a 118 percent premium from the closing price of $7.10 on Jan. 19, which was the last business day before Protection One’s public announcement that it would be exploring strategic alternatives.

“Our board of directors has determined that the proposed price for the transaction is fair to Protection One’s stockholders,” said Richard Ginsburg, CEO of Protection One, in a statement. “We also expect that the tender offer will deliver value to Protection One’s stockholders in a more efficient and more immediate fashion than under a traditional merger process.”

David A. Donnini, principal of GTCR, described the planned acquisition as “an exciting opportunity” both for GTCR and Protection One stakeholders.

“We are thrilled to be involved in the security alarm monitoring industry for a third time in the past 10 years,” Donnini said. “We look forward to building on the strong base of business established by Protection One’s top-quality team of employees, while continuing to provide great service to Protection One’s customers.”

Protection One came to Lawrence in November 2004, after being sold off by Westar Energy in Topeka. In January, Protection One had 73 employees in Lawrence, including senior management, back office, finance, administrative, payroll, human resources and accounting personnel; at the time, the company had 715 employees in Kansas, including 620 in Wichita, working out of a branch office and a customer service center. The company also has a branch office in Lenexa.

Just before Protection One had announced in January that it would be exploring strategic alternatives, Tyco International Ltd. — owners of industry leader ADT, announced it would acquire Brink’s Home Security, operator of Broadview Security, the industry’s No. 2 company, for about $2 billion in cash and stock.

At the time, Protection One ranked No. 3 in the market with more than 1 million monitored accounts. It is controlled by two investment groups: Quadrangle Group and Monarch Alternative Capital, which together own 70 percent of the company.