Fintech Giants Reshuffle as Global Payments Acquires Worldpay in $24.25B Deal

The most ambitious realignments in the payments space in years, Global Payments has agreed to acquire Worldpay from FIS and private equity firm GTCR in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $24.25 billion. At the same time, it’s shedding its Issuer Solutions unit to FIS for $13.5 billion, a strategic divestiture that completes a sharp pivot toward merchant services.

The move, announced mid-April, underscores a broader shift among legacy payments players racing to keep pace with digital-native challengers and investor expectations.

“This creates a merchant solutions powerhouse,” said Global Payments CEO Cameron Bready, framing the transaction as a turning point for the company.

The combined entity will process 94 billion transactions annually across more than 175 countries, serve over 6 million clients, and generate approximately $12.5 billion in adjusted net revenue. In terms of scale and capability, it becomes an immediate rival to the likes of Stripe, Adyen, and PayPal.

A Deal Engineered at the Top

Talks began months ago between the CEOs of Global Payments, FIS, and Worldpay. The resulting three-way structure is complex, but carefully tailored:

• Global Payments acquires 100% of Worldpay, buying GTCR’s 55% majority stake and FIS’s 45% holding.
• GTCR receives 59% cash and 41% stock, ending up with 15% ownership in the merged company.
• FIS, in turn, takes over Global’s Issuer Solutions unit—gaining scale in credit processing and simplifying its portfolio.

To fund the transaction, Global Payments secured a $7.7 billion bridge loan facility from JPMorgan Chase, part of a larger financing commitment supporting the deal’s execution.

Why Now?

The rationale is as much about defense as it is about growth.

Global Payments has faced scrutiny for lackluster organic growth and strategic drift. Since its $21 billion acquisition of TSYS in 2019, the market hasn’t been kind. Its stock has underperformed its peers. Which made investors grow impatient.

This deal resets the narrative. Global Payments becomes a pure-play B2B payments engine, focused entirely on merchants, from small businesses to global enterprises. Adding Worldpay’s dominance in e-commerce and enterprise-level payments gives it the breadth to compete across all segments.

For FIS, offloading Worldpay, which it acquired for $43 billion in 2019, is a strategic retreat and a fresh focus. CEO Stephanie Ferris called the move a “turn toward core banking strengths,” saying the reunited issuer business will unlock more than $500 million in adjusted free cash flow in year one.

“There are benefits beyond the asset synergies as it ultimately simplifies the financial profile/perception story for investors,” said analysts in a note at TD Cowen.

GTCR’s Big Exit

Private equity firm GTCR walks away with a significant return, just two years after it acquired a 55% stake in Worldpay from FIS. That short hold period and substantial exit reflect a savvy bet on payments dislocation and impeccable timing.

By taking a meaningful equity stake in the new Global Payments, GTCR remains invested in the long game, signaling confidence in post-merger integration and earnings growth.

Analyst Sentiment Says “Overdue, but Smart”

The street sees the deal as long overdue. “After several years of uninspiring merchant organic revenue growth and what we consider a lack of strategic cohesiveness, this transaction is a bold step for Global management,” said Andrew Jeffrey, a senior analyst at William Blair.

“After several years of uninspiring merchant organic revenue growth and what we consider a lack of strategic cohesiveness, this transaction is a bold step for Global management, and long overdue,” William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey said in a note.

Shares of Global Payments dipped 17.4% following the announcement, a reflection of deal size, market volatility, and dilution fears. Meanwhile, FIS stock rose 8.7%, buoyed by expectations of a leaner, more focused company.

The final structure, including cash, stock, divestiture, and bridge financing, has also delayed the signing by several days as markets absorbed broader volatility. But insiders say the outcome was worth the complexity.

What’s Next?

For Global Payments, execution will be everything. Integration risks remain, and the track record across large fintech mergers is mixed. But if the company can combine Worldpay’s scale with its mid-market agility, it could define the next chapter of enterprise payments.

For FIS, the play is cleaner. With merchant services in the rearview mirror, it can double down on serving banks, launching cross-selling strategies across debit, credit, and core banking infrastructure.

And for investors watching the payments chessboard, this could be the beginning, not the end, of a wave of repositioning moves.

Merchant services are consolidating. Issuer processing is rebundling. And fintech’s biggest names are picking lanes with new urgency.