The European Commission has begun examining Global Payments Inc.’s planned $24.3 billion acquisition of Worldpay, formally notified under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.
The case entered Phase I of the EU merger-control process on 27 October 2025, triggering a provisional deadline of 1 December 2025 for the Commission to decide whether the deal can be cleared unconditionally or should proceed to a detailed Phase II inquiry.
If approved, the combination would create the world’s largest payment-processing group, with an estimated $4 trillion in annual transaction value. The deal structure involves Global Payments acquiring Worldpay in two tranches — a 45 percent share purchased from Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) and the remaining 55 percent held by private-equity firm GTCR LLC. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2026.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has already cleared the transaction, but the European review will focus on whether the merger could restrict competition in card-acquiring, payment-gateway, or merchant-services markets across the EEA.
Observers note that the Commission has recently intensified scrutiny of consolidation in digital-payments infrastructure, where network effects and data integration can reinforce market power. The outcome of this case may therefore influence how Brussels approaches future mergers in fintech and financial-infrastructure services, investing.com reported.
