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Ohio based payment processor Vantiv has acquired UK based payments technology company Worldpay for $10 billion. The target operates in 146 countries, making it an attractive play for companies looking to broaden their international exposure. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said that it bowed out of the bidding after early participation.
"At a high-level, you have a number of forces like mobile payments, a surge in e-commerce, and greater security all concurrently accelerating the pace of the change within the payments ecosystem," KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Josh Beck said in an email. "As a result, you have companies looking to become global franchises with a variety of technology 'tools' to address all of the change sweeping across the industry." Vantiv's acquisition of Worldpay "fits in very nicely against this backdrop" said Beck, who outlined the logic of the deal in a February note. The merger combines creates a company with a global footprint that can process digital and in-store transactions with a presence in multiple regions, among other factors.
