A $10B ‘pay’ day

Vantiv in deal for UK processing rival

Vantiv edged out Jamie Dimon in its bid to acquire UK-based Worldpay, in a deal that will nearly double Vantiv’s size.

The Ohio-based payment processing firm said in a joint statement with Worldpay Wednesday that it intends to buy the UK-based company in a deal valued at $10 billion. If completed, the deal would bring Vantiv’s market value to more than $20 billion.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it was at “a very early stage” in deciding whether or not to bid on Worldpay, but it ultimately decided not to.

Vantiv’s offering price of £3.85 ($4.98) per share represents an 18.9 percent premium to Worldpay’s closing price July 3 — just before word of Vantiv and JPMorgan’s interest emerged.

News of the deal rocked both Vantiv and Worldpay shares Wednesday as investors and analysts weighed its merits.

Worldpay shares, which trade on the London Stock Exchange, fell 8.8 percent, to £3.72, just below Vantiv’s offering price of £3.85 — shaving off some of the 27.7 percent pop the stock gained Tuesday, when both Vantiv and JPMorgan were in contention for the payment processor.

Vantiv shares fell 2.3 per- cent, to $61.06, on the news.

Despite the falling share prices, analysts at Cowen said the deal was “strategically sound,” calling Worldpay “a marquee strategic target.”

The merger would also give both companies a foothold into the other’s market.

Vantiv currently has “no exposure” outside the US while Worldpay “frankly ... has floundered relative to rivals” in trying to get break into the US, George Mihalos of Cowen wrote Wednesday.

Vantiv was the largest payments processor in 2016, accounting for $21.2 billion in transactions, according to a March report by industry publication, The Nilson Report.

Worldpay ranked seventh over the same period.

Reps for Vantiv and Worldpay declined to comment further.