Worldpay Inc., a Cincinnati-based public company with about a thousand local employees, will be acquired later this year, shifting its corporate headquarters to Jacksonville, Fla.
Fidelity National Information Services, or FIS, is a financial services technology firm that agreed to buy Worldpay in a deal valued at $43 billion, including cash, stock and the assumption of debt. The deal was announced by both companies Monday morning. FIS CEO Gary Norcross will lead the new company, while Worldpay CEO Charles Drucker will be executive chairman of its board.
“Scale matters in our rapidly changing industry,” Norcross said in a press release. “As a combined organization, we will bring the most modern solutions targeted at the highest growth markets.”
Worldpay could not explain how the deal will impact local employment, but Spokesman Adam Kiefaber said, "We expect that Cincinnati will continue to be a strategic location for the combined company." Top executives from FIS told Wall Street analysts to expect $400 million in cost cutting after the sale closes.
“The primary areas where will obtain our cost savings are operational synergies as we combine issuing and acquiring capabilities from both companies, technology integration as we drive efficiencies in technology and data center costs, and corporate costs through functional alignment of the combined companies,” said FIS Chief Financial Officer James “Woody” Woodall.
In addition to cost savings, the companies expect $500 million in new revenue as Worldpay sells its payment-processing services to FIS customers in India and Brazil, and both companies cross sell their combined services to big banks and global merchants.
Norcross said FIS and Worldpay employees have worked well so far to jointly identify cost-cutting and new-revenue opportunities. He told Worldpay employees the merger will be good for them.
“I’m excited about the career opportunities this will present to you,” Norcross said.
The combined companies will have annual revenue of $12.3 billion, expected to grow between 6 and 9 percent through 2021.
Worldpay itself is the product of a 2018 acquisition in which Symmes Township –based Vantiv Inc. acquired London-based Worldpay in a deal worth $10.4 billion. The same factors driving that deal were cited this morning, as Drucker announced Worldpay’s decision to be acquired.
“We are proud to become part of one of the financial services industry’s most respected and consistently performing companies, and I am excited about the new opportunities this brings both for the business and our colleagues worldwide,” Drucker said.
