UK competition regulator seeks comment on Global Payments Worldpay merger as new payment giant would process over 100 billion transactions annually.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an initial information gathering process to determine whether the impending acquisition of Worldpay by Global Payments could hinder market competition.
The acquisition was confirmed in April 2025 and would see Global Payments acquire Worldpay for $22.7bn. According to the transaction agreement, however, both firms must obtain all necessary regulatory clearances before the sale can go through. Given the scope of each firms’ operations, this will likely mean approval from UK and US regulators.
According to a July 1 notice published on the CMA’s website, the UK regulator is currently assessing whether a potential merger “may lead to a substantial lessening of competition in UK markets”.
The CMA draws on the Enterprise Act 2002, a piece of UK legislation which enables the CMA to tackle any anti-competitive practices it deems falls under its scope, and whether the acquisition breaks this law.
While no initial investigation has been launched, the CMA confirmed it is now inviting comments on the acquisition, with a deadline set for July 16. The regulator stated a “formal Phase 1 investigation has not yet commenced, and the statutory timetable will be updated in due course”.
Both firms will also require approval from US regulators. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, Global Payments and FIS are required to file mandatory pre‑merger notifications. These filings typically trigger a 30-day review window by US antitrust authorities.
During the HSR waiting period, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division (and potentially the Federal Trade Commission) will assess the merger’s competitive impact. While there’s no formal public disclosure yet that the waiting period has closed, the filing itself indicates the review is underway .
The acquisition in question
On April 17, Global Payments confirmed it would be acquiring Worldpay after agreeing a deal with FIS and GTCR for $22.7bn, or a total value of $24.25bn (cash-and-stock), acquiring 55% from GTCR and 45% from FIS.
Within the initial announcement, Global Payments revealed the acquisition would ‘simplify its business model and position itself as a leading pure play commerce solutions provider for merchants’ leveraging Worldpay’s extensive global reach.
The deal will also strengthen Global Payments’ financial position, with expected pro forma adjusted net revenue to rise to $12.5bn, adjusted EBITDA to grow to $6.5bn, and payment volume to substantially increase to $3.7trn after the acquisition is consolidated in its first full financial year in 2026.
Global Payments is a US-based fintech which offers payment technology and software solutions; it is one of the world’s largest payment processors outside of Visa and Mastercard, with a presence in over 170 countries processing payments for businesses of all sizes.
Worldpay also processes payments for global merchants and businesses. The company offers a full suite of payment gateway solutions designed for e-commerce and in-person transactions and has since adopted AI solutions with its acquisition of Ravelin in February 2025.
A new processor powerhouse?
The CMA’s initial information gathering process will likely centre around whether the merger of the two firms will create a payment processing giant with such a large market monopoly that competition is threatened.
To put this into context, Worldpay processes over 40 billion transactions in over 146 countries in 135 currencies. Global Payments processed more than 50 billion transactions in 2024 across their network.
Merging both companies could see more than 100 billion transactions processed, a feat only greatly surpassed by Visa and Mastercard, who processed 233 billion and 197 billion transactions, respectively.
Setting a precedent
This isn’t the first time the CMA has stepped in to prevent an acquisition.
In September 2020, Nvidia announced plans to acquire Arm (a semiconductor IP company) from SoftBank for $40bn. Regulators, customers, and tech rivals raised strong objections, triggering an FTC lawsuit and investigations from the CMA and European regulators.
By February 2022, the CMA concluded that the merger could significantly lessen competition, enabling Nvidia to favor its own products or restrict rival access to Arm’s technology.
Other regulators, including the EU, Japan, China, and South Korea, also launched in-depth reviews, making a global greenlight unlikely. By early 2022, the sheer volume and complexity of regulatory scrutiny, all with overlapping concerns, led SoftBank and Nvidia to conclude getting final approvals would be unfeasible.
Arm stayed with SoftBank and later went public in September 2023.
