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Worldpay's private equity owners, Advent and Bain, are preparing
the company for a London stock market listing which is likely to
propel the firm into the FTSE 100.
Last month, they appointed Barclays' deputy chairman Michael
Rake as Worldpay's new chairman, replacing John Allan.
The move signaled the buyout houses favored a stock market
listing and were keen to have management in place for when it
starts trading as a public company, sources familiar with the
matter told Reuters.
An initial public offering (IPO) could value the firm at around
6 billion pounds, including around 2 billion pounds worth of
debt.
But heavyweight private equity funds are still looking to snap
up Worldpay despite the listing plans.
Sources told Reuters in July that European buyout house CVC [CVC.UL]
and U.S. fund Hellman & Friedman were considering separate bids,
and now Blackstone has teamed up with the latter.
A source familiar with the matter said that an IPO was still the
most likely course of action for Worldpay.
Blackstone's move was first reported on Thursday by Sky News,
which also said a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund could team
up with Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman in a joint bid.
Worldpay provides a platform to enable merchants to accept
payments by cards and other methods. Its owners bought Worldpay
from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010 for about 2 billion pounds.
A spokesman at Hellman & Friedman declined to comment. Advent
and Bain also declined to comment.
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Freya Berry. Editing by Jane
Merriman and Mark Potter)
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