Latham Advises on GTCR’s Acquisition of a Majority Stake in Worldpay From FIS

GTCR, a leading private equity firm, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Worldpay, a leading global provider of payment processing solutions, from FIS® (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology. GTCR will acquire 55% of Worldpay, and FIS will retain the remaining 45%, in a transaction that values the business at US$18.5 billion. As part of the agreement, GTCR has committed an additional equity capital investment in Worldpay of up to US$1.25 billion to pursue inorganic growth opportunities. Worldpay and FIS will continue to work together closely in partnership on a commercial basis to best serve customers and deliver innovative solutions into the marketplace. Latham & Watkins represented the debt financing sources, as well as FIS on global and regulatory aspects, in connection with the transaction.

Counsel to Debt Financing Sources

Latham represented the debt financing sources in the transaction with a capital markets and banking team led by New York partners Stelios Saffos, Corey Wright, Alfred Xue, Lisa Collier, Conray Tseng, Nicole Fanjul, Jesse Sheff, Andrew Baker, Keith Halverstam, Senet Bischoff, Erika Weinberg, Michael Saliba, and Los Angeles partners Jason Bosworth and Jeffrey Senac, London partner Manoj Bhundia, and New York counsel Seung-Ju Paik and Preeta Paragash, with associates Hana Nah, David Califano, Simon Cooke, Yesenia Barberena, Philipp Hagenbuch, Sara Johnson, Jennifer Dweck, Jack Anderson, Jeff Najjar, Paul Lau, Julia Albrecht, Yekaterina Fomitcheva, Robyn Sablove, Adam Weber, Eric Dang, Alex Gulino, and Amishi Magdani. Advice was also provided on tax matters by New York partner Eric Kamerman; on bank regulatory matters by New York partner Arthur Long and New York counsel Pia Naib, with associate Ja Hyeon Park; on payments regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Parag Patel; on non-US regulatory matters by London partner Christian McDermott, with associate Gabriel Lakeman; on benefits matters by associate Anne Bracaglia; on OFAC/sanctions matters by Washington, D.C. counsel Catherine Hein, with associate Matthew Gregory; on anti-bribery and anti-corruption matters by Washington, D.C. partner Daniel Dominguez; on data privacy matters by Bay Area partner Robert Blamires and London partner Fiona Maclean, with associates Kathryn Parsons-Reponte and Calum Docherty; on real estate matters by New York counsel Shira Bressler; on environmental, health, and safety matters by associate Brittany Curcuru; on intellectual property matters by associate Dewey Kang; and on collateral matters by New York partners Larry Safran and Brian Rock.

Counsel to FIS

Latham also advised FIS on global and regulatory aspects of the transaction with a team led by New York M&A partner Gary Boss. Advice was provided on global payments regulatory matters by London partner Stuart Davis, with associates Brett Carr and Lauren Chapple; on US regulatory advice by Washington, D.C. partner Barrie VanBrackle, with associates Victor Razon and Mikhail Bushinski; on non-US regulatory matters by Hong Kong partner Simon Hawkins, with associate Adrian Fong, on corporate matters by Paris partner Charles-Antoine Guelluy; on employment matters by New York partner Bradd Williamson, London partner Sarah Gadd, Paris partner Matthias Rubner, and Munich partner Tobias Leder, with associates Jessica McIntosh and Yanis Gaoua; and on trade compliance regulatory matters Washington, D.C. partner Les Carnegie.