The enigmatic German payments processor Wirecard is heavily rumoured to have joined the bidding for UK rival Worldpay.
Wirecard is competing against private-equity bidders, including a joint proposal from
Wirecard smashes into Worldpay bid at $9.4bn
Blackstone Group and Hellman & Friedman, as Worldpay also prepares for a possibleinitial public offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private – according to Bloomberg.
Its offer values Worldpay, which is owned by Advent International and Bain Capital, at about £6 billion ($9.4 billion), or 17 times its projected earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation next year, one of the people said. Wirecard shares fell 2.6% to €36.24, giving the company a market value of €4.5 billion ($5.2 billion).
No final decision has been made and several potential buyers are still in the running, the people said. Advent and Bain may also choose to proceed with IPO plans and not sell the company, they said. A decision may be announced as early as next month, they said.
Representatives for Wirecard, Worldpay, Bain, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman declined to comment. An official at Advent didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Based in Aschheim near Munich, Wirecard specializes in online and mobile payments. It has worked with customers including ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, Orange SA and Daimler AG’s mytaxi. Founded in 1999, Wirecard has increased its profit more than tenfold in the past decade and reported net income of €108 million last year.
Advent and Bain Capital bought Worldpay from Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in 2010 for £1.7 billion. The company, which processes in-store, mobile and online payment transactions, reported Ebitda of £375 million last year, on revenue of £3.6 billion, according to its website.
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