British payment processing company
This article is about the original UK Worldpay acquired by Vantiv. For the company formerly known as Vantiv, see
Worldpay, Inc.
"Bibit" redirects here. Not to be confused with
Dibit
.
Worldpay Group plc
(formerly
RBS WorldPay
) was a
payment processing company
. It was formerly listed on the
London Stock Exchange
until 16 January 2018 when it was acquired by
Vantiv
. The combined company then took the name
Worldpay, Inc.
Worldpay, Inc. was acquired by
FIS
in July 2019 for $43 billion.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
Early history
[
edit
]
WorldPay started as an online multi-currency payment system in 1997. The founder Nick Ogden
[4]
partnered with
National Westminster Bank
to provide the financial systems and Andrew Birch
[5]
of
Symbiant
to provide the end user payment gateway. When Royal Bank of Scotland took over National Westminster Bank, Worldpay was wholly acquired and merged with an
electronic payment
system called
Streamline
which was first released by Centre-file ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Westminster Bank, in 1989.
[6]
Management history
[
edit
]
RBS ownership
[
edit
]
In 1995 the Streamline system was reabsorbed into the bank when the trading name and payroll service of Centre-file ltd were sold to
Ceridian
. NatWest was acquired in 2002 by
Royal Bank of Scotland Group
(RBS)
[7]
which renamed the business RBS WorldPay and appointed
Ron Kalifa
as CEO.
[8]
RBS expanded the business significantly by acquiring and merging a number of payment solutions companies from different countries. Over the next five years it was combined with seven leading retail payment solutions brands: Streamline, Streamline International, PaymentTrust, Netherlands based Bibit, RiskGuardian and US-based Lynk.
[9]
Divestment from RBS
[
edit
]
As a condition in the European Commission's clearance in December 2009 of state aid to RBS, Worldpay was to be sold as part of a plan to divest selected businesses from the group. On 6 August 2010,
Advent International
and
Bain Capital
agreed to acquire Worldpay for £2.025bn, including a £200m contingent consideration, and appointed Ron Kalifa, who has previously headed up the global transaction services division with RBS, as CEO. The RBS Group retained a 20% stake in the newly independent business,
[10]
with Advent International and Bain Capital owning 40% each. The sale completed on 1 December 2010.
In November 2013, RBS said it had sold its remaining stake of about 20 per cent in Worldpay to the payment processing firm’s majority shareholders, private equity firms
Advent International
and
Bain Capital
.
[11]
The company listed on the
London Stock Exchange
through an
initial public offering
(IPO) in October 2015.
[12]
At the IPO, Advent and Bain earned a combined profit of £3.2 billion from their five year investment, selling about £1.2 billion of company stock and retaining a £2.3 billion stake.
Acquired by Vantiv
[
edit
]
In July 2017,
Vantiv
announced its intention to acquire Worldpay for $10.4 billion.
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
The combined entity was to keep the "Worldpay" name, and would be headquartered and listed in the United States, with internal operations continuing to be based in the U.K.
[17]
The transaction was completed on 16 January 2018.
[18]
There was initial concern from UK politicians over whether the merger was as a result of the fall in the pound's value since 2016, turning British assets into bargains for foreign investors. However, WorldPay's vice-chair, Ron Kalifa, described the deal as "a merger of equals"
[19]
and emphasised that the timing was simply coincidental, as the company was "not ready [to do the deal] last year when the pound was in a different position."
[20]
. The combined entity renamed to
Worldpay, Inc.
Acquired by FIS
[
edit
]
In March 2019,
Fidelity National Information Services
(FIS), a payment rival based in Florida, bought Worldpay Inc. in a deal worth £32 billion.
[21]
[22]
Divestment from FIS
[
edit
]
In February 2023, in the wake of pressure from
activist investors
, FIS announced it would spin off its merchant business that consisted of Worldpay in the next 12 months.
[23]
In July, private equity firm
GTCR
agreed to acquire a 55
per cent stake in WorldPay from FIS for $11.7
billion, valuing WorldPay at $18.5
billion.
[24]
Acquisitions
[
edit
]
On 21 December 2010, the UK division of Worldpay acquired
Cardsave
, one of the leading independent sales organisations distributing credit and
debit card
processing services to small retailers.
[25]
In May 2011 Worldpay acquired Envoy Services Limited, a leading provider of alternative payment solutions to eCommerce merchants worldwide, for an undisclosed amount.
[26]
In June 2013, Worldpay launched Worldpay Zinc, a mobile card processing terminal which connects to smart phones.
[27]
In September 2013, Worldpay revealed it had acquired US payment processing company Century Payments.
[28]
In 2014, Worldpay announced a definitive agreement to acquire SecureNet Payment Systems
[29]
from private equity firm Sterling Partners. The acquisition was completed in December of that year.
[30]
Following this acquisition, WorldPay announced that it would spend $10 million relocating its US headquarters to Atlanta.
Operations
[
edit
]
The company provided payment services for mail order and Internet retailers, as well as point of sale transactions. Customers are a mix of multinational,
multichannel retailers
, with the majority being small business merchants. It also provided loans to small businesses.
[
citation needed
]
In 2016, WorldPay presented its own IT platform, which enabled the company to process up to 20 times more transactions
[
vague
]
. This decision was a part of the process to separate WorldPay entirely from the Royal Bank of Scotland and their technology systems.
[31]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Preliminary Results for year ended 31 December 2016"
(PDF)
. Worldpay
. Retrieved
15 April
2017
.
- ^
"Company overview"
. Worldpay
. Retrieved
15 April
2017
.
- ^
Basch, Mark (31 July 2019).
"FIS completes $43 billion Worldpay acquisition"
. Retrieved
2 August
2019
.
- ^
"Nick Ogden | Money20/20 Europe"
.
europe.money2020.com
. Retrieved
18 March
2019
.
- ^
"Symbiant:Compliance Management Arena With Software Solutions"
.
Mirror Review
. 16 January 2019
. Retrieved
18 March
2019
.
- ^
"Worldpay value hits £5bn on market debut"
.
The Independent
. 14 October 2015.
Archived
from the original on 7 May 2022
. Retrieved
15 April
2017
.
- ^
"Worldpay launches London's biggest float of 2015 with bosses set for £100 million bonanza"
. Standard. 18 September 2015
. Retrieved
15 April
2017
.
- ^
Menmuir, Ted (15 March 2019).
"Ron Kalifa OBE joins Network International seeking London IPO"
.
PaymentExpert.com
. Retrieved
24 September
2019
.
- ^
"A new start: WorldPay's Ron Kalifa"
. Banking Technology. 20 May 2011
. Retrieved
15 April
2017
.
- ^
"RBS Announces WorldPay Sale"
. PEHub. August 2010.
- ^
Tasim Zahid (27 November 2013).
"RBS sells remaining Worldpay stake to Advent, Bain Capital"
. Reuters.
- ^
"Worldpay floats in largest London IPO this year"
. The Telegraph. 13 October 2015
. Retrieved
6 November
2015
.
- ^
Bray, Chad (5 July 2017).
"Vantiv Offers Worldpay a Deal Valued at $10 Billion"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
15 September
2017
.
- ^
Massoudi, Arash; Arnold, Martin (5 July 2017).
"Vantiv strikes £9.1bn deal for Worldpay"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
15 September
2017
.
- ^
"U.S. payments firm Vantiv clinches $10 billion deal to buy Worldpay"
.
Reuters
. 9 August 2017
. Retrieved
15 September
2017
.
- ^
Hussain, Noor Zainab.
"U.S. card firm Vantiv goes global with $10 billion Worldpay buy"
.
- ^
"The Deal Is Sealed, Vantiv Will Buy Worldpay For $10.4 Billion"
. Pymnts.com. 9 August 2017
. Retrieved
9 August
2017
.
- ^
"Vantiv officially completes Worldpay acquisition"
. Mobile Payments Today. 16 January 2018
. Retrieved
17 January
2018
.
- ^
Wilson, Harry (10 August 2017).
"Worldpay's fall to foreign buyer poses new questions"
.
The Times
.
ISSN
0140-0460
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
Monaghan, Angela (9 August 2017).
"US firm Vantiv to buy British rival Worldpay for £9.3bn"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
"Former RBS unit in $43bn sale to US rival"
. 18 March 2019
. Retrieved
22 August
2019
.
- ^
"FIS completes $43 billion Worldpay acquisition | Jax Daily Record"
.
Financial News & Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida
. 31 July 2019
. Retrieved
22 August
2019
.
- ^
Nishant, Niket; Sen, Anirban; Vinn, Milana (13 February 2023).
"FIS takes $17.6 billion hit in merchant unit to be spun off"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
Nishant, Niket; Sen, Anirban (6 July 2023).
"Buyout firm GTCR picks up majority stake valuing FIS unit Worldpay at $18.5 billion"
.
Reuters
.
- ^
Sophie Baker (20 December 2010).
"Worldpay acquires Cardsave"
. FStech.
- ^
"WorldPay acquisition of Envoy Services"
. Worldpay.
- ^
"Mobile chip and pin device launch to help sole traders"
. Worldpay Press release. 27 June 2013.
- ^
"Worldpay US Purchases Century Payments"
. Yahoo finance. 30 September 2013. Archived from
the original
on 12 August 2014
. Retrieved
17 January
2017
.
- ^
"Worldpay Announces Agreement to Acquire SecureNet Payment Systems"
.
Business Wire
. 11 November 2014
. Retrieved
21 July
2017
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 13 October 2016
. Retrieved
17 July
2017
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
Dunkley, Emma (5 April 2016).
"Worldpay set to break free from RBS technology"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
29 August
2019
.
External links
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