Ingenico Could Soon End The Worldpay Bidding War

French payments company Ingenico has the financing ready to support its bid for U.K.-based Worldpay, a European leader in payments processing, a source close to the deal told Reuters yesterday (Sept. 17).

According to Reuters, the point-of-sale vendor reportedly offered to purchase Worldpay, which is co-owned by private equity firms Advent and Bain, for as much as £6.6 billion ($10.24 billion).

With the contest to determine who will take the reigns of Europe’s top payments processor continuing to heat up, Ingenico faces competition from payments players worldwide.

Last month, unnamed sources told Bloomberg that Worldpay’s German rival Wirecard entered the bidding war as a potential buyer.

Several other private equity firms, such as CVC, the Blackstone Group and Hellman & Friedman have also shown interest in taking over the company.

If Ingenico comes out of the bidding race victorious, WorldPay will stand as its second acquisition, after buying out mobile commerce platform ROAM in January of this year.

In 2010, Worldpay was built out of RBS, making itself the largest merchant acquirer in Europe, providing card-processing services for businesses.

A source told Reuters Ingenico has already secured the support of key shareholders and will move forward with selling off Worldpay’s U.S. business if it purchases the company.

Ingenico, which had a stock market valuation of €7.42 billion, or $8.34 billion, has a 30 percent global market share with shipments rising 18 percent annually, according to an earlier Nilson report.

One thing the companies on Worldpay’s list of bidders have in common is the desire to keep Worldpay from going public, as post-2014, companies have found higher valuation in flotation rather than going public, leaving them dependent on buyers’ demand that can vary based on stock market health and buyers’ eagerness for assets, Reuters said last month.

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