Lionel Laurent, Columnist

For Worldpay, Everything Must Grow

Empire building trumps cost savings in this pricey takeover.

August 9, 2017 at 11:01 AM UTC

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist writing about the future of money and the future of Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for Reuters and Forbes.

1502271653_315280389_1-6 — Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe

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The global payments industry is growing and its champions must straddle the globe. That's the main reason behind U.S. market leader Vantiv Inc.'s $10.4 billion takeover of Worldpay Group Plc, its British counterpart.

It's not a straightforward bet: the valuation is high, cost overlaps are relatively few and the proposed co-CEO structure is awkward. Everything must grow for Vantiv to justify the price it's paying.