Worldpay to be bought by FIS in £32.4 billion mega deal

Payments giant Worldpay is to be taken over by US firm Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) in a 43 billion US dollars (£32.4 billion) deal.

The cash and shares tie-up will see Florida-based FIS, a financial services technology company, take control of 53% of the combined group, with Worldpay’s investors holding the remainder.

The combined company is expected to generate about 12.3 billion US dollars (£9.2 billion) in pro-forma revenue in 2018 and the duo are guiding for 500 million US dollars (£377.5 million) of revenue cost savings.

“Scale matters in our rapidly changing industry,” said Gary Norcross, chairman and chief executive officer of FIS.

“Upon closing later this year, our two powerhouse organisations will combine forces to offer a customer-driven combination of scale, global presence and the industry’s broadest range of global financial solutions.”

Under the terms of the deal, which is being billed as a merger, Worldpay shareholders will receive 0.9287 of a FIS share and 11 US dollars (£8.31) in cash.

The deal includes Worldpay’s debt, which FIS said it expects to refinance.

Worldpay was owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland before it was spun out of the lender as a condition of its crisis-era state bailout.

Last year, Worldpay was then taken over by US rival Vantiv in £9.3 billion deal.

Worldpay executive chairman and chief executive Charles Drucker said: “At Worldpay, our focus has always been on delivering more value to our clients and partners, and making decisions that achieve our growth and performance objectives.

“Combining with FIS helps us accelerate the achievement of that, now benefiting from new scale and capabilities that will truly differentiate the company globally.”

Mr Norcross will remain chairman, president and chief executive of the new company, with Worldpay’s Mr Drucker becoming executive vice-chairman.

The new company will retain the name FIS and keep its headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.