LONDON: Management at Worldpay has decided to list the payment processing giant on London Stock Exchange rather than selling the business, after months of um-ing and ah-ing.
Worldpay processes payments for online retailers and shops.
42% of all checkout sales in the UK using cards are processed by Worldpay and the company works with big chains like Tesco, Asda, and Marks & Spencer. It has over 400,000 customers globally.
Sky News first reported that Worldpay was looking to float in London back in June, in what would be one of the biggest listings this year.
But that attracted the attention of potential acquirers. The most recent approach was a £6.6 billion ($10.2 billion) offer from France’s Ingenico.
Worldpay on Friday officially said it plans to float the company in London, snubbing the takeover offer.
In a statement CEO Philip Jansen says: “The IPO is an exciting and logical next step as we seek to continue this momentum. It will enable us to access new capital for growth, augment our global proposition and further enhance our ability to serve customers across the world.”
Worldpay is a big business, with revenue last year of £863.4 million ($1.34 billion) and earnings of £374.7 million ($583.9 million). The initial public offering of stock will likely value the company around £6 billion.
The company was spun out of Royal Bank of Scotland in 2009 as part of European Union conditions on the bank’s state bailout and bought by private equity groups Bain Capital and Advent International.
