Global Payments to acquire Worldpay in $22.7bn deal

By Gloria Methri

Global Payments Inc. has announced definitive agreements to acquire Worldpay from GTCR and FIS for a net purchase price of $22.7 billion. In a parallel move, Global Payments will divest its Issuer Solutions business to FIS for $13.5 billion.

The total value of the Worldpay acquisition stands at $24.25 billion, including $1.55 billion in anticipated tax assets. The transaction reflects a 12.3x adjusted EBITDA multiple for Issuer Solutions and an 8.5x multiple for Worldpay, inclusive of run-rate synergies.

The acquisition of Worldpay will significantly expand Global Payments’ global footprint and merchant capabilities. Together, Global Payments and Worldpay will serve over 6 million customers, processing approximately 94 billion transactions and $3.7 trillion in payment volume annually across more than 175 countries.

This strategic move positions Global Payments as a merchant solutions provider with enhanced exposure to high-growth regions and verticals. The combined business will be equipped to serve the full spectrum of merchants, from small and medium enterprises to global corporates, as well as software and platform providers.

Commenting on the announcement, Cameron Bready, Chief Executive Officer of Global Payments, said, “The acquisition of Worldpay and divestiture of Issuer Solutions further sharpen our strategic focus and simplify Global Payments as a pure play merchant solutions business with significantly expanded capabilities, extensive scale, greater market access and an enhanced financial profile.”

Bready continued, “This transaction provides us with one of the world’s most feature-rich platforms to support eCommerce and enterprise customers across key high-growth geographies and verticals, while also enhancing our integrated and embedded capabilities to deliver seamless solutions to software and platform providers worldwide.”

Charles Drucker, CEO at Worldpay, said, “We are excited to enter this next phase of Worldpay’s evolution by uniting with Global Payments to create something special in the payments industry. Our solutions will enhance value for our customers, especially for Worldpay’s small and medium-sized businesses. The combination of Global Payments and Worldpay brings together two strong teams with similar histories, a shared culture of innovation and deep payments expertise.”