Key Takeaways
- • CD&R and GTCR have teamed up on a joint bid to buy out card processor Global Payments, according to the Financial Times, which reported the approach on Friday, October 30, citing unnamed sources.
- • The reported enterprise value of Global Payments is about $40 billion, against a market capitalization of $23 billion and net debt of $17 billion, which would make the transaction one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history per the FT.
- • GTCR is Global Payments' largest shareholder, giving it a central position in any negotiated outcome.
- • Talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal; CD&R declined to comment, and GTCR and Global Payments did not respond substantively.
- • William Blair said a Global Payments acquisition would be a plausible outcome given the widening gap between public and private valuations, and could signal further consolidation that leaves few public traditional fintechs.
Summary
Private investment firm CD&R and private equity group GTCR have teamed up on a joint bid to acquire card processor Global Payments, the Financial Times reported on Friday, October 30, citing unnamed sources. According to the report, the enterprise value of Global Payments is about $40 billion, and a leveraged buyout of the company would rank among the largest such transactions in history. As of Friday afternoon, Global Payments had a market capitalization of $23 billion and net debt of $17 billion.
GTCR is Global Payments' largest shareholder, according to the FT. The talks are ongoing and may not produce a deal. CD&R declined the FT's request for comment, and neither GTCR nor Global Payments responded to the FT. Reached by PYMNTS, GTCR declined to comment, and Global Payments did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The approach comes as Global Payments' shares trade near their lowest level in a decade. The stock fell as investors criticized the company's 2025 deal to buy Worldpay from GTCR in a cash and stock transaction valued at over $24 billion, per the FT. PYMNTS reported in April 2025 that Global Payments had said it bought Worldpay for a net price of $22.7 billion while simultaneously selling its Issuer Solutions business to FIS for $13.5 billion. Worldpay was co-owned by FIS and GTCR. With those transactions, Global Payments planned to fully exit issuer processing and concentrate on merchant solutions at scale.
In a Friday note to investors, William Blair said that if the reported deal proceeds, it would likely signal another wave of mergers and acquisitions that could leave the market without public traditional fintechs. The firm wrote: "This is a plausible outcome is Global is acquired, in our opinion, in light of the widening gap between public and private valuations."
GTCR is Global Payments' largest shareholder, according to the FT. The talks are ongoing and may not produce a deal. CD&R declined the FT's request for comment, and neither GTCR nor Global Payments responded to the FT. Reached by PYMNTS, GTCR declined to comment, and Global Payments did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The approach comes as Global Payments' shares trade near their lowest level in a decade. The stock fell as investors criticized the company's 2025 deal to buy Worldpay from GTCR in a cash and stock transaction valued at over $24 billion, per the FT. PYMNTS reported in April 2025 that Global Payments had said it bought Worldpay for a net price of $22.7 billion while simultaneously selling its Issuer Solutions business to FIS for $13.5 billion. Worldpay was co-owned by FIS and GTCR. With those transactions, Global Payments planned to fully exit issuer processing and concentrate on merchant solutions at scale.
In a Friday note to investors, William Blair said that if the reported deal proceeds, it would likely signal another wave of mergers and acquisitions that could leave the market without public traditional fintechs. The firm wrote: "This is a plausible outcome is Global is acquired, in our opinion, in light of the widening gap between public and private valuations."
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