Global Payments Markets $6.2 Billion Bond Sale to Support Worldpay Acquisition

Global Payments has reportedly begun marketing a $6.2 billion bond sale to support its acquisition of Worldpay.

The company is marketing the bond sale in as many as four parts ranging from three to 10 years, and it is discussing a price on the 10-year note at a premium of about 1.75 percentage points above Treasuries, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Nov. 6), citing unnamed sources.

Global Payments did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The company filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The prospectus does not include the price or proceeds of the offering.

The prospectus said the offering’s joint book-running managers are J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities and Barclays.

It said the proceeds of the offering will be used to fund cash payments in connection with the Worldpay acquisition, repay certain outstanding indebtedness of Worldpay and its subsidiaries, pay transaction costs related to the acquisition, and for general corporate purposes.

PYMNTS reported on April 17 that Global Payments’ planned acquisition of Worldpay was one of two “sweeping transactions” announced that day by Global Payments and by Worldpay’s co-owner FIS.

Global Payments said it bought Worldpay for a net price of $22.7 billion and simultaneously sold its Issuer Solutions business to FIS for $13.5 billion. Worldpay is co-owned by FIS and private equity firm GTCR.

With these deals, Global Payments will fully exit the issuer processing field, turning that operation over to FIS as it doubles down on merchant solutions. The company said the agreements will sharpen its focus on merchant solutions at scale.

The planned acquisition was cleared by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority on Oct. 20.

During a Tuesday (Nov. 4) earnings call, Global Payments CEO and Director Cameron Bready said the company expects its planned acquisition of Worldpay and its divestiture of Issuer Solutions to close in the first quarter of 2026.

“Naturally, our teams are eager to complete the Worldpay transaction and begin unlocking the compelling opportunities it presents, including accelerating our strategy to transform Global Payments into a pure-play merchant solutions provider with sustainable growth, leading scale, focused investments and meaningful value creation,” Bready said.