Worldpay is engaged in providing solutions for card payments, multi-currency processing, online payments and contactless payments. The company operates through three divisions – Global eCom, Worldpay US and Worldpay UK.
FIS, which is headquartered in Florida, focuses on retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, and others.
The merger of the two companies is expected to significantly expand FIS’ capabilities by improving its acquiring and payment offerings. For Worldpay, the merger is likely to boost its distribution footprint to a significant extent, thereby fast tracking its reach into new geographies.
Worldpay executive chairman and CEO 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 benefitting from new scale and capabilities that will truly differentiate the company globally.”
The combination of the two companies is also expected to provide enterprise banking, payments, capital markets, and global eCommerce capabilities to financial institutions and businesses across the world.
The two companies’ solutions and services are said to be complementary, which encompass financial institution issuer services, network and merchant services, loyalty and fraud solutions, among others.
For clients of the two organizations, the merger is expected to help them in accessing a broader portfolio of digital assets to speed up their revenue growth, optimize their operations and increase their customer engagement.
FIS chairman, president and CEO Gary Norcross said: “Scale matters in our rapidly changing industry. Upon closing later this year, our two powerhouse organizations will combine forces to offer a customer-driven combination of scale, global presence and the industry’s broadest range of global financial solutions.
“As a combined organization, we will bring the most modern solutions targeted at the highest growth markets. The long-term value we will create for clients and for shareholders will set the bar in our industry and will create a range of new career opportunities for our employees.”
The total consideration for the deal includes assumption of Worldpay’s debt, which is expected to be refinanced by FIS.
As per the merger agreement, shareholders of the payments technology company will be issued 0.9287 FIS shares along with $11.00 in cash for each share they hold.
Post-merger, FIS shareholders will hold nearly 53% stake in the combined company while Worldpay’s shareholders will own about 47% stake. The combined company will retain the name FIS and will be based in Jacksonville, Florida.
The closing of the merger, which will be based on receipt of required regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions, is likely to be completed in the second half of 2019.
