Global Payments acquires Worldpay in $22.7B deal to rival Stripe, PayPal, and Adyen

Global Payments is going all-in on merchant services. The Atlanta-based fintech firm announced Thursday it’s acquiring Worldpay from FIS and private equity firm GTCR in a $22.7 billion deal—one of the biggest moves in the payments space this year.

The move comes just two years after Global Payments acquired smaller rival EVO Payments in a $4 billion deal, signaling a clear strategy to scale aggressively through consolidation.

As part of the transaction, Global Payments will shed its slower-moving issuer solutions unit, selling it back to FIS for $13.5 billion. The sale frees up capital and clears the way for a tighter focus on e-commerce and enterprise payments, where Worldpay has deep traction.

The merger gives Global Payments a combined footprint of over six million customers, processing 94 billion transactions annually across more than 175 countries, totaling $3.7 trillion in payment volume. The move positions it to take on heavyweights like Stripe, PayPal, Adyen, Fiserv, and Block.

“This transaction provides us with one of the world’s most feature-rich platforms to support ecommerce and enterprise customers,” said Global Payments CEO Cameron Bready.

Not everyone’s cheering. Shares of Global Payments dropped nearly 10% after the news, while FIS saw a bump of 3.4%. Over the past year, Global’s stock has underperformed FIS and lagged the S&P 500.

Analysts say the move was overdue. “After several years of uninspiring merchant organic revenue growth and what we consider a lack of strategic cohesiveness, this transaction is a bold step for Global management,” noted William Blair’s Andrew Jeffrey, according to Reuters.

The deal also signals a full exit from merchant services for FIS. It originally bought Worldpay for $43 billion in 2019, but sold a controlling stake to GTCR last year at a significantly lower valuation of $18.5 billion. Now, it’s walking away completely.

As part of the acquisition agreement, GTCR will receive Global Payments stock valued at $97 per share, giving it a 15% stake in the merged company, worth around $21 billion.

Global Payments plans to fund the buyout with proceeds from the issuer unit sale, existing cash, and $7.7 billion in new debt. Once finalized, the combined business is expected to generate $12.5 billion in adjusted net revenue and $6.5 billion in core earnings.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval.