[STRATEGIC] Payments Infrastructure ·
Three-Way Deal · Commerce Technology —
Announced Apr 17, 2025 — CLOSED January 12, 2026
Global Payments Closes $24.25B Worldpay
Acquisition, Creating a Pure-Play Payments Giant
One of the most structurally complex three-way transactions in
payments history: Global Payments simultaneously buys Worldpay from GTCR/FIS
while selling its own Issuer Solutions business back to FIS — consolidating the
global merchant acquiring market and processing $3.7 trillion in annual payment
volume.
DEAL SNAPSHOT
|
WORLDPAY ACQUISITION VALUE $24.25 Billion |
CLOSED January 12, 2026 |
|
ISSUER SOLUTIONS DIVESTITURE $13.5 Billion (to FIS) |
PAYMENT VOLUME (PRO FORMA) $3.7 Trillion / 94B
transactions p.a. |
|
ANNOUNCED April 17, 2025 |
GTCR STAKE POST-CLOSE ~15% of Global Payments |
THE PARTIES
|
ACQUIRER Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:
GPN) Atlanta-based
global payment technology and software solutions company. Pre-deal revenues
~$8.5B. CEO Cameron Bready. Processes transactions across 175+ countries via
its Genius payment platform targeting SMBs, enterprise, and e-commerce
merchants. Known for POS software and payments tech in healthcare, gaming,
and government verticals. |
TARGET Worldpay (from GTCR / FIS) One of the
world's largest payment processors — processing >$2 trillion in annual
volume across 146+ countries. Originally acquired by FIS in 2019 for $43B
(one of the largest ever fintech deals). GTCR subsequently carved out a 55%
majority stake in 2023 at an $18.5B total valuation. ~$5.4B in revenues. Led
by CEO Charles Drucker. Strengths in e-commerce and omni-commerce payment
acceptance for global enterprise merchants. |
THE THREE-WAY DEAL STRUCTURE
This transaction
operated as a simultaneous three-party exchange: (1) Global Payments acquired
100% of Worldpay from GTCR (55%) and FIS (45%) for a net purchase price of
$22.7B ($24.25B including $1.55B of anticipated tax assets); (2) FIS
simultaneously acquired Global Payments' Issuer Solutions business (formerly
known as TSYS) for $13.5B, allowing FIS to refocus on core banking
infrastructure; (3) GTCR received a combination of cash for its 55% Worldpay
stake plus approximately 15% ownership in Global Payments going forward —
becoming a long-term equity partner in the combined business.
Global Payments
financed the acquisition through proceeds from the Issuer Solutions
divestiture, existing cash, and approximately $7.7B of new debt raised in the
period between signing and closing. Key regulatory clearances included Phase 1
approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (October 2025) and EU
clearance. The deal closed on January 12, 2026 — ahead of the originally guided
H1 2026 timeline.
"Worldpay is the best asset in payments. This combination creates
the most comprehensive, technology-forward pure-play commerce solutions company
in the world."
— Cameron
Bready, President & CEO, Global Payments
STRATEGIC RATIONALE
Post-close,
Global Payments becomes a pure-play merchant commerce solutions company —
processing $3.7 trillion in payment volume annually across 6M+ merchant
locations in 175+ countries. The Genius platform is positioned to compete
directly for the SMB market (alongside Square and Stripe) as well as large
enterprise merchants. The divestiture of Issuer Solutions to FIS simultaneously
sharpens GPN's focus: no more two-sided market complexity between merchant
acquiring and card issuer technology.
ADVISORS
Sell-side
Financial (Worldpay/GTCR): Wells
Fargo Securities + Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
Sell-side
Legal (Worldpay/GTCR): Kirkland &
Ellis LLP
Sell-side
Regulatory (GTCR): Axinn, Veltrop
& Harkrider LLP + Paul Hastings LLP
No financial
advisors were publicly disclosed for Global Payments (buy-side).