Buyout groups considering bids for majority stake in FIS-owned Worldpay

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The private equity group is exploring the possibility of buying a majority stake in payments provider Worldpay from Fidelity National Information Services at a valuation of more than $15 billion, according to five people familiar with the matter, which would be one of the largest corporate stakes ever. .

US buyout firm Advent, which was previously part of the consortium that owned Worldpay, is one of the parties studying the bid, according to the two people. One of those people said GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity group that sold a business to Worldpay in 2010, is also studying a bid.

If the FIS accepts the proposal, it would mark a change in its strategy to spin off Worldpay into a separate publicly traded business, announced in February.

A spokeswoman for FIS declined to comment on what she described as market speculation. Advent and GTCR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Two of the people said large Wall Street lenders have discussed providing funding for the deal. Doing so would be a sign of confidence from banks, which have delayed funding large-scale purchases after several “hung deals” where they struggled to offload loans to third-party investors.

The talks come four years after FIS acquired Worldpay in a deal worth more than $30 billion, which aims to create a diversified financial technology company providing payment processing services to merchants such as large banks and retailers.

Activist hedge fund DE Shaw last year urged FIS to review its business structure and in December was given a seat on the company’s board of directors. Another activist, Jana Partners also took a stake in the group.

No deal has been agreed, but if one goes through, it would demonstrate how cash-strapped buyout companies are trying to scale up.

Advent, which manages $92 billion in assets, bought a majority stake in the business with Bain Capital from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010 during the financial crisis. In 2013 it took full control.

Worldpay was sold to Vantiv in 2017 before the combined company was acquired by FIS two years later.

Charles Drucker, who led Worldpay under Bain and Advent’s ownership, was hired as a strategic advisor by FIS this February to assist in the separation and was named chief executive of that merchant payments business. which they planned to separate.

GTCR, based in Chicago, has more than $35 billion in assets under management and last month closed on $11.5 billion in buyout funding, surpassing its $9.25 billion target. It specializes in financial services and technology investments, and companies dealing in healthcare and business services.