Worldpay seals £9.3bn merger with rival Vantiv

● New group will process 40 billion transactions a year ● Growth of e-commerce prime driver of deal

Worldpay has agreed a £9.3 billion merger with US rival Vantiv in a tie-up that will create a global payments processing giant with a combined value of £22.2bn.

The deal, which comes after a second extension to the talk deadlines on Tuesday, will see Vantiv pay 397p a share for Worldpay, or £8bn, plus £1.3bn to cover debts.

The combined group will be called Worldpay and will be led by Vantiv’s Charles Drucker as executive chairman and co-chief executive, with Worldpay’s current boss Philip Jansen as co-chief executive.

Drucker said: “This is a powerful combination that is strategically compelling for both companies.

“It joins two highly complementary businesses and will allow us to achieve even more together than either organisation could accomplish on its own.”

Under the terms of the deal, Worldpay shareholders will own 43 per cent of the company, with 57 per cent held by investors of Vantiv.

The combined group will have a secondary listing on the London stock market but will have its primary listing in New York.

Cincinnati, Ohio, will become the group’s global and corporate headquarters, while its international HQ will be in London.

Jansen said: “The growth of e-commerce and the way consumers expect to transact is increasing complexity for businesses around the world.

“Our unique combination of scale, innovation, technology and global presence will mean that we can offer more payment solutions to businesses, whether large or small, global or local, enabling them to meet consumers’ increasing demands and helping them prosper.”

The two firms will look to cut about $200 million (£154m) from costs after merging.

Vantiv said it had a high regard for the skills and experience of Worldpay’s management and 5,000 staff and their employment and pension rights would be observed.

The combined group will process around $1.5 trillion of payments and 40 billion transactions through more than 300 payment methods in 146 countries and 126 currencies.

Worldpay already processes millions of payments a day in stores, online and on mobile phones.

It was owned by Royal Bank of Scotland until the lender sold off its remaining stake to private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital in 2013. Cath Kidston has swung into profit after sales at its overseas business helped mitigate the impact of the fall in sterling following the Brexit vote. The clothing and homewares retailer said it turned an operating profit of £800,000 in the 12 months to 26 March, compared with a loss of £2.1 million the year before. Sales rose 8 per cent to £129.2m, helped by a 20 per cent increase in international sales to £42.3m. It benefited from a decision to buy back its Japanese subsidiary.