Wirecard enters race for Worldpay takeover with $9 billion bid

Wirecard AG, one of the world’s largest payment processors, is planning a $9.4 billion bid for British processor Worldpay, as it competes with two private equity bidders for ownership of the payments firm.

Bloomberg has reported that Wirecard is looking to purchase its UK rival, which is owned by Advent International Corp. and Bain Capital. The two firms bought Worldpay from Royal Bank of Scotland Plc for £1.7 billion in 2010.

Wirecard is up against some stiff competition in the race to acquire Worldpay, with private equity firms Blackstone Group and Hellman & Friedman launching a joint bid to purchase the London-based company.

The British payment firm is also planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO), with the processors being valued at £6 billion ($9.4 billion), which is 17 times more than its projected earnings, according to an inside source.

Worldpay has recently been making a number of changes to its managerial structure. Sir Michael Rake, former Barclays Plc deputy chairman, has joined the payment processor as its new chairman in order to assist with the firms IPO.

According to Bloomberg’s insider source, Worldpay executives are yet to make a final decision about its future.

With two bids being made for the company, Advent and Bain may ultimately decide to not sell it and instead oversee its IPO.Last year the company announced it made £375m Ebitda, with revenue of £3.6 billion.In the past decade, Wirecard has increased its profit tenfold and made €108m in 2014.

Related reading

Leave a comment