Vantiv clinches deal to acquire Worldpay

Vantiv Inc. confirmed this week that it has reached agreement to acquire U.K. payments processor Worldpay Group plc for about GBP 8 billion in cash and stock, one of the biggest deals in the fast consolidating payments solutions sector.

In a joint statement Wednesday, the two firms claimed that the deal will create a trans-Atlantic payments processing giant with a combined market value of more than $20 billion.

The companies disclosed their negotiations last month (see previous report) as the US-based Vantiv appeared at the time to ward off a potential rival bid from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

The combined entity will be titled Worldpay, and Vantiv will bolster its U.S. position and gain access to the U.K. markets, where Worldpay processes millions of payments daily in stores, online and on mobile phones.

Vantiv and Worldpay said the deal would generate $200 million in annual pretax cost savings for the combined entity. Vantiv and Worldpay shareholders are expected to own approximately 57 percent and 43 percent, respectively, of the combined company’s shares.

The combined group will be led by Vantiv Chief Executive Charles Drucker as executive chairman and co-CEO. Reporting to him will be Worldpay CEO Philip Jansen, who will also take on the title of co-CEO.

Widespread consolidation is taking place in the payments solutions sector. Earlier this year Mastercard Inc. received regulatory approval to acquire payment-technology firm VocaLink Holdings Ltd. for about $920 million, and last week Atlanta-based Global Payments Inc. agreed to acquire the cloud-based payment technology of Active Network for about $1 billion from private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners.

In the UK last week, Blackstone Group LP and CVC Capital Partners announced final agreement on a deal to acquire online-payments processor Paysafe Group plc for $3.89 billion. That deal gives the private-equity giants significant exposure to the online gambling sector as a result of Paysafe’s digital-wallet technology

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