Worldpay Group

Early history

WorldPay started as an online multi-currency payment system in 1997. The founder Nick Ogden[4] partnered with National Westminster Bank to provide the financial systems and Andrew Birch[5] of Symbiant to provide the end user payment gateway. When Royal Bank of Scotland took over National Westminster Bank, Worldpay was wholly acquired and merged with an electronic payment system called Streamline which was first released by Centre-file ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Westminster Bank, in 1989.[6]

Management history

RBS ownership

In 1995 the Streamline system was reabsorbed into the bank when the trading name and payroll service of Centre-file ltd were sold to Ceridian. NatWest was acquired in 2002 by Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS)[7] which renamed the business RBS WorldPay and appointed Ron Kalifa as CEO.[8] RBS expanded the business significantly by acquiring and merging a number of payment solutions companies from different countries. Over the next five years it was combined with seven leading retail payment solutions brands: Streamline, Streamline International, PaymentTrust, Netherlands based Bibit, RiskGuardian and US-based Lynk.[9]

Divestment from RBS

As a condition in the European Commission's clearance in December 2009 of state aid to RBS, Worldpay was to be sold as part of a plan to divest selected businesses from the group. On 6 August 2010, Advent International and Bain Capital agreed to acquire Worldpay for £2.025bn, including a £200m contingent consideration, and appointed Ron Kalifa, who had previously headed up the global transaction services division with RBS, as CEO. The RBS Group retained a 20% stake in the newly independent business,[10] with Advent International and Bain Capital owning 40% each. The sale completed on 1 December 2010.

In November 2013, RBS said it had sold its remaining stake of about 20 per cent in Worldpay to the payment processing firm’s majority shareholders, private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital.[11] The company listed on the London Stock Exchange through an initial public offering (IPO) in October 2015.[12] At the IPO, Advent and Bain earned a combined profit of £3.2 billion from their five year investment, selling about £1.2 billion of company stock and retaining a £2.3 billion stake.

Acquired by Vantiv

In July 2017, Vantiv announced its intention to acquire Worldpay for $10.4 billion.[13][14][15][16] The combined entity was to keep the "Worldpay" name, and would be headquartered and listed in the United States, with internal operations continuing to be based in the U.K.[17] The transaction was completed on 16 January 2018.[18] There was initial concern from UK politicians over whether the merger was as a result of the fall in the pound's value since 2016, turning British assets into bargains for foreign investors. However, WorldPay's vice-chair, Ron Kalifa, described the deal as "a merger of equals"[19] and emphasised that the timing was simply coincidental, as the company was "not ready [to do the deal] last year when the pound was in a different position.".[20] The combined entity renamed to Worldpay, Inc.

Acquired by FIS

In March 2019, Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), a payment rival based in Florida, bought Worldpay Inc. in a deal worth £32 billion.[21][22]

Divestment from FIS

In February 2023, in the wake of pressure from activist investors, FIS announced it would spin off its merchant business that consisted of Worldpay in the next 12 months.[23] In July, private equity firm GTCR agreed to acquire a 55per cent stake in WorldPay from FIS for $11.7billion, valuing WorldPay at $18.5billion.[24]