Global Payments announced it has reached an agreement to buy rival payment technology company Total System Services for about $21.5 billion in stock.
The companies said, under the terms of the agreement, Total System shareholders would get 0.8101 Global Payments shares for each share of common stock, representing a price per share of $119.86, an approximately 20% premium to the share price at the close of the market on May 23, 2019.
Global Payments shareholders would own 52% of the combined company after closing.
“We believe the deal marks a shift from (Global Payments’) pursuit of software and differentiated assets into more of a scale play,” Jefferies analysts said in a note.
“We do not believe a deal would face antitrust considerations nor do we expect another offer although we note that several banks have mentioned renewed focus on payments.”
Consulting firm McKinsey said it expects the payments market to reach $3 trillion per year in revenue globally by 2023.
Global Payments and Total System Services said the combined company would provide services to 3.5 million predominantly small to mid-sized merchant locations and more than 1,300 financial institutions. Global Payments said, after closing, it would process 50 billion transactions annually in 38 countries physically and over 100 countries virtually.
After closing, the company would have 12 board members, six from the board of directors of Global Payments and six from Total System Services. Troy Woods, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Total Systems Services, would be chairman of the board of the new company. Global Payments Chief Executive Officer Jeff Sloan would be CEO of the combined company. Paul Todd would be chief financial officer, and Cameron Bready would be president and chief operating officer.
The merger is the latest in a series of deals involving large financial technology firms. In January, Fiserv announced it was merging with First Data in a $22 billion deal. Then in March, Fidelity National Information Services announced it had agreed to buy Worldpay for about $35 billion.