‘Compelling rationale’ sees UK and US legal teams advise as Vantiv moves in
A host of US and UK-based international firms have lined up on the £9.3bn sale of UK payment processor Worldpay to US-based peer Vantiv in a deal that will create a company with a combined value of £22.2bn.
Agreed in early July, the transaction was formalised in August with an Allen & Overy (A&O) team advising Worldpay, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Sidley Austin assisting Cincinnati-based Vantiv.
The A&O team was led by corporate partner Duncan Bellamy, who also led for A&O on Worldpay’s £890m 2015 initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange, and he was joined by M&A partner Seth Jones.
Ashurst, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Sullivan & Cromwell and Sidley all became involved during the deal’s completion in August. Ashurst’s team consisted of banking partners Mark Vickers and Tim Rennie, alongside corporate and M&A partner Karen Davies. The team advised Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, both of which represented Vantiv on the deal. Davis Polk also advised Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, with a team including New York-based corporate partner Lee Hochbaum and London-based corporate partner Will Pearce.
Sullivan acted for Fifth Third Bank, which completed a share transaction to finance the deal, with New York corporate partners Alexandra Korry and Mitchell Eitel joined by London corporate partner Ben Perry.
In a joint statement, Worldpay and Vantiv said there was a ‘compelling strategic, commercial and financial rationale’ for the combination, which will create a global company with a ‘strong position’ in the four core regions: the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America.
Worldpay had been subject to a buyout offer from US banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co the day before the initial deal, but opted to reach an agreement with Vantiv instead.
Worldpay’s in-house team is headed up by Ruwan De Soyza, who was promoted to the role in January following the departure of previous general counsel Mark Edwards.
