Vantiv Gets An Extension On Worldpay Bid

Worldpay has granted its U.S. buyer Vantiv a week-long extension to get its takeover bid in order.

Vantiv has already agreed to buy the former RBS unit for 7.7 billion pounds ($10.17 billion) on July 5th with an agreement to have a formal bid completed by August 1. Both firms, however, are finishing final negotiations, which has slowed down the process some.

Worldpay has noted that “positive discussions” are continuing, but there is no certain news that a formal proposal will make it over the finish line to submission. The deadline could be pushed back further — though that would reportedly require the approval of the UK Takeover Panel.

Under the terms of the deal announced on July 5, Vantiv, which is advised by Morgan Stanley, will pay 55 pence in cash, 0.0672 of a new Vantiv share and a 5 pence cash dividend per Worldpay share. A main issue in the takeover seems to be location of the combined entity — Worldpay wants London to be the center and would like a binding commitment to protecting British jobs.

This is partially patriotic — and partially an attempt to make the deal more attractive to U.K. government officials who may be less than favorably disposed to a takeover by a foreign acquirer.

Earlier in 2017, the London Stock Exchange scrapped a deal with Deutsche Börse to create Europe’s biggest exchange. The deal killer called for German politicians to move the combined entity’s headquarters from London to Frankfurt because of Brexit — a concession the LSE did not want to make.