Abstract

Since the early 2000s, the global payments industry has been undergoing massive changes forced by digital disruption and regulatory challenges. This has triggered M&A activities, giving rise to consolidation in the industry across Europe and North America. The case study discusses one of the biggest merger and acquisition deals in the global payments industry. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS), a global financial services technology player, acquired Worldpay, Inc. (Worldpay), a leading payment processing company, in early 2019. The combined entity became a leading payments and financial technology provider in the world. FIS was expecting significant cost and revenue synergies from the acquisition. The case details the factors that led to the decision of the two companies to come together and the synergies expected to be reaped from the merger.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the trends in the global Payments industry and the challenges.
• Understand the significance of mergers and acquisitions in the context of the US Payments industry.
• Understand the different types of M&As and the rationale behind the acquisition of Worldpay by FIS.
• Understand the different types of synergies in M&As and what goes into ensuring the anticipated synergies are achieved.

Keywords

M&As; Payments Industry; Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS); Worldpay, Inc.; Fintech; Financial Services; Synergies; Integration; Consolidation; Payment Processing; Horizontal Merger; Cost Synergies; Revenue Synergies; Merchant Acquirer