Global Payments Denies Report of Acquisition Talks with Shift4

Global Payments, a payments company based in Atlanta, was reportedly considering an acquisition of Shift4 Payments, a provider of an end-to-end commerce solutions headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company has since denied the reports.

The company reportedly was working with an adviser to assess the feasibility of a potential deal with Shift4, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Dec. 14) citing unnamed sources.

Global Payments clarified that it isn’t in talks with Shift4 about any transaction following earlier reporting that the company was evaluating a purchase of Shift4.

Reached for comment, a Global Payments spokesperson told PYMNTS: “Although we typically do not respond to market speculation or rumors, we are not in discussions with Shift4 regarding any type of strategic transaction.”

Shift4 Payments has not responded to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

Both companies are key players in the digital economy, providing secure channels that connect sellers, customers and banks in exchange for a fee, according to the report.

They experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, benefiting from the surge in online shopping, the report said.

As the competition to offer more advanced technology to customers intensifies, these companies have faced pressure to consolidate, per the report.

Shift4 processes over $200 billion in payments annually and operates in North America, Europe and Asia, according to the report. The company serves various sectors, including airlines, travel, casinos and gaming. It was founded in 1999 and went public in 2020.

Global Payments provides software that manages transactions across various industries, such as restaurants and arenas, and can be used at points of sale or through digital devices, the report said. The company reported a 7.4% increase in revenue to approximately $7.2 billion in the nine months leading up to September.

Global Payments has previously pursued a strategic acquisition to expand its presence in different markets, per the report. Last year, the company agreed to acquire EVO Payments for around $3.4 billion.

When announcing that acquisition in August 2022, Global Payments said the deal would increase its target addressable markets, expand its presence into new parts of the world, and add accounts receivable software with broad third-party acceptance to its B2B software and payment solutions.

With a healthy balance sheet and a $5.75 billion revolving credit line, Global Payments has the potential to pursue more strategic deals, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Diksha Gera wrote in a recent research note, per Thursday’s Bloomberg report.

In a recent development at Shift4, that firm said in September that it has partnered with Amazon to enable customers at Chicago’s United Center arena to use Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” payment technology.