Worldpay, a British payment processor, has moved ahead with its IPO plans, raising $3.8 billion (£2.5 billion) in what will be the largest offering in the United Kingdom since 2013.
More specifically, Worldpay has listed slightly below the midpoint of its initial range, valuing the company at an aggregated price of $9.6 billion (£6.3 billion), which includes $2.3 billion (£1.5 billion) of net debt. The figure also represents a lower sum takeover bid by Ingenico, which saw its offer of over $10 billion (£6.6 billion) rejected.
Last month, Worldpay initially unveiled plans to push forward with an IPO (initial public offering) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). At the time, the company hoped that the listing would generate $1.4 billion (£890 million) in a bid to reduce its debt and grow its already sizable business – initial estimates in September appear vastly underestimated however.
Worldpay is owned by the private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital, both having offered a 25% stake in the company. The venture was initially created as an offshoot of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that aimed to become a stand-alone business in 2010 – more recently however, Worldpay has provided payment services to a wide range of merchants worldwide, boasting in excess of 31 million mobile, online and in-store transactions a day.
The group also recently reported its H1 2015 operating metrics, which during the six months ending June 30, 2015, showed a net revenue of $709.9 million (£465.7 million), on track to top 2014’s figure of $1.32 billion (£863.4 million). These robust figures helped fuel an IPO that largely blew away initial estimates of just $1.4 billion.
Worldpay’s IPO is estimated to be constituted of approximately 1 million shares, with a price of 240p per share. However, the shares already managed to notch a 5% jump to 252p in early conditional trading on Tuesday.
