UK watchdog says full reasoning will follow after initial review finds no need for an in-depth probe.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Global Payments’ anticipated acquisition of Worldpay following a Phase 1 review, removing a key domestic regulatory hurdle for one of 2025’s largest payments deals.
The authority said the full text of its decision will be published shortly.
The case page shows a three-step timetable: a preliminary invitation to comment opened on July 1; a formal launch on September 16; and Phase 1 clearance announced on October 20. The CMA also notes this merger is separate from its ongoing FIS/TSYS inquiry.
In practical terms, clearance at Phase 1 indicates the regulator did not identify concerns requiring a deeper Phase 2 investigation or undertakings-in-lieu. The detailed market definition and evidence base will appear when the decision is published.
A three-way reshaping of portfolios
Global Payments agreed in April to acquire Worldpay in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $24.25 billion, implying a net purchase price of $22.7 billion after tax assets.
As part of the three-way arrangement with FIS and GTCR, Global Payments will divest its issuer solutions unit to FIS for $13.5 billion, sharpening its focus on merchant commerce solutions. The companies have guided to completion in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
Deal materials and reporting suggest the combined merchant platform would process tens of billions of transactions annually, with Global Payments also trimming non-core assets this year to streamline the portfolio.
Why Phase 1 clearance was plausible
While the CMA’s reasoning is pending, both firms face a crowded UK landscape across card acquiring and gateway services.
Major rivals include bank-owned acquirers (Barclaycard, Lloyds Cardnet), international processors (Elavon), and fintech-led players (Adyen, Stripe, PayPal), alongside a long tail of specialist providers.
Previous CMA work in adjacent cases, such as PayPal/iZettle and Visa/Plaid, has highlighted how market entry and multi-homing can constrain providers in merchant services and emerging payment rails—though each case turns on its own facts.
The forthcoming decision text will show how the authority assessed overlaps, customer switching, and omni-channel competition for UK merchants.
Relationship to other UK merger reviews
The CMA has explicitly separated this case from its FIS/TSYS inquiry, where it recently rejected the parties’ merger notice for lacking prescribed information, pausing that timetable until a complete filing is provided.
That procedural step underlines that each strand of consolidation around payments infrastructure is being examined on its own merits.
The immediate next step is publication of the CMA’s full Phase 1 decision, which will set out the authority’s market definition, theory of harm assessment and evidence from third-party submissions.
Beyond the UK, the parties still require clearances in other jurisdictions before closing; current guidance from the companies targets completion in H1 2026.
