It’s Official: FIS sells majority stake in Worldpay 😳; FinTech IPOs are still alive as CAB Payments raises ~£335M in London 🇬🇧; M&A creates Europe's latest FinTech unicorn 🦄

FinTech is Eating the World, 6 July

Hey Everyone,

Happy Thursday! Today we have some big things on the FinTech menu🔥 We’re going to look at FIS officially selling majority stake in Worldpay (+ a deep dive into the biggest-ever FinTech divorce), FinTech IPOs that are still alive thanks CAB Payments (+ revisiting the pitch deck that led to London’s biggest-ever direct listing), and more M&A that just created Europe's latest FinTech unicorn (more to come + M&A strategy resources). Let’s jump straight into the col stuff 🌶

It’s Official: FIS sells majority stake in Worldpay 😳

That was fast! 💨 Finance giant FIS FIS 0.00%↑ has reached an agreement to sell 45% of its Worldpay Merchant Solutions business to private equity funds managed by GTCR.

The transaction values the unit at a whopping $18.5 billion, which includes $1 billion contingent on certain thresholds being met by GTCR.

More on this 👉 We can remember that initially, FIS had planned to spin off Worldpay, but the company's new CEO, Stephanie Ferris, opted for offloading a majority stake instead.

The deal with GTCR offers an attractive upfront valuation, representing a 9.8-times multiple on expected fiscal 2023 adjusted EBITDA. FIS will receive net proceeds of around $11.7 billion and retain a non-controlling 45% ownership interest in a new joint venture.

✈️ THE TAKEAWAY

End of an era 👏 This is logical and was expected but the fact that it happened so fast rather surprised me… On the other hand, money doesn’t sleep and what had to be done was done. In short, this move will simplify operations for both FIS and Worldpay, facilitate debt reduction, and allow for capital return to shareholders. If you want to learn more, I did a deep dive into the deal with all the ins and outs here:

ICYMI: Record-breaking FinTech divorce: FIS mulls $15 billion Worldpay sale 😳