UK Regulator Greenlights Global Payments' Acquisition of Worldpay

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given its approval for Global Payments Inc.'s planned acquisition of Worldpay, clearing a significant regulatory hurdle for the major transaction in the payments processing sector. The regulator announced its Phase 1 decision on Monday, stating it had "cleared the anticipated acquisition" and concluded the deal does not warrant a more in-depth investigation into competition concerns.

The complex deal, first announced in April, involves a three-way transaction. Atlanta-based Global Payments is set to acquire Worldpay for $24.25 billion. Simultaneously, Global Payments will sell its Issuer Solutions division, TSYS, to Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) for $13.5 billion. The combined Global Payments-Worldpay entity is projected to process over 94 billion transactions annually, valued at approximately $3.7 trillion across 175 countries, according to company filings.

While the CMA's clearance of the Global Payments-Worldpay merger is a major step forward, the entire transaction cannot be finalized yet. A related CMA review into FIS's purchase of TSYS is still pending. The regulator paused its review of that part of the deal on October 10, citing an incomplete filing, and is awaiting additional information from FIS.

The approval suggests the CMA believes sufficient competition will remain in the UK merchant acquiring market, which includes players like Barclaycard, Worldline, Adyen, and Stripe. The regulator's recent focus has been more on scheme and processing fees charged by card networks rather than on consolidation among acquirers.

For the companies involved, the deal marks a strategic realignment. Global Payments will become a larger, pure-play merchant acquirer, while FIS will divest its merchant-facing business to concentrate on its core issuer processing and banking technology operations.