Payment processor Worldpay agrees to $10 billion acquisition offer from Vantiv

The UK's biggest payment processor, Worldpay Group, has agreed to the terms of an acquisition offer from US rival Vantiv. News of the $10 billion (£7.7 billion) deal sent Worldpay's share price tumbling; while the planned takeover values shares at 385p, they quickly dropped to 368p.

Just days ago, Worldpay revealed it had been approached with offers from Vantiv and JPMorgan, and the latter has now ruled itself out of making an official bid. Vantiv's takeover of Worldpay would see the US company spreading into Europe with its POS and online payment services.

When the takeover completes, it will effectively see Worldpay and Vantiv merging, and the two companies say it "creates a scale world-class payments group in a dynamic market." As part of the deal, Vantiv's Charles Drucker will become executive chairman and co-chief executive, while Stephanie Ferris will retain her CFO position. Worldpay's Philip Jansen will become co-chief executive, and chairman Sir Michael Rake, along with Vantiv chairman Jeffrey Stiefler, will sit on the board as non-executive directors.

In a statement, Worldpay says:

The Boards of Worldpay and Vantiv see compelling strategic, commercial and financial rationale for combining Worldpay and Vantiv's complementary businesses. The Potential Merger creates a scale world class payments group in a dynamic market, with deep payments capabilities, product and vertical expertise and strong distribution channels to serve merchants around the world in the global e-commerce market, and in-store and online in the UK and US markets.