Worldpay sold for $43bn

Worldpay, the Global payments giant, which accounts for 42 per cent of all UK payments, processing around 400 transactions per second, was sold for £32.5 bn ($43bn) to a US rival Fidelity National Information Services.

The company employs 4000 people will come together with US-listed FIS in a cash and shares deal.

Their customers include TopShop, Direct Line, Clarks and World Duty Free airport shops and over 24, 000 restaurants and 9000 pubs.

Worldpay shareholders get around $112 per share comprising $11 in cash and the rest in FIS shares, equivalent to a 14 per cent premium to Friday’s price

Wordplay listed in New York, saw its secondary listing of shares in London rise 9.3 per cent today.

FIS CEO Gary Norcross will lead the combined group . He said “ the current iteration of Wordpay is itself the result of a recent merger, when US payments giant Vantiv bought the company for £9 bn in 2017. In 2015, Worldpay was floated on FTSE100 for £4.3bn. In 2010 RBS sells Worldpay unit to Advent and Bain Capital for £2bn. In 2002, RBS buys NatWest and a payments system rebranded RBS Worldpay.

Banks borrow short term and send money around the world taking fees along the way, and unbundling their payments system, and spinning them out has raised useful capital for parent banks.