Ingenico, Wirecard Engage In Bidding War To Acquire Worldpay
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Ingenico Group has entered a bidding war to acquire Worldpay in advance of the planned initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg Business reported. Last year, Ingenico acquired Amsterdam-based GlobalCollect in an 820 million-euro deal in an attempt to further expand beyond selling hardware to providing services related to the growing online and mobile payment sector.
The move sets Ingenico against Wirecard AG. Founded in 1999 and based in Aschheim near Munich, Wirecard specializes in online and mobile payments. The news sources report both bids exceed $9 billion.
A team of private-equity firms, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman, have also expressed interest in acquiring Worldpay, according to anonymous source, Reuters reported.
According to The Telegraph, Worldpay has been owned by Bain Capital and Advent International since 2010, when they bought a majority stake from Royal Bank of Scotland for $3 billion.
Advent and Bain could award the sale to one of the current bidders, or they could also choose to move forward with an IPO.