Vantiv, J.P. Morgan Make Takeover Approaches for U.K.'s Worldpay -- Update

By Tapan Panchal 

LONDON -- U.K. payment-processing technology company Worldpay Group PLC on Tuesday said it had received preliminary takeover approaches from U.S. rival Vantiv Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Shares in the British company soared on the news, rising as much as 22%, to value the company at more than GBP7 billion ($9.06 billion).

Vantiv and J.P. Morgan have until Aug. 1 to make a firm offer for Worldpay, pursuant to U.K. takeover rules. The British company said there could be no certainty that an offer would be made or the terms of any potential deal.

Vantiv, based near Cincinnati, Ohio, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2012 after being spun out of Fifth Third Bancorp. The company processes credit and debit-card transactions for merchants and has a market capitalization of more than $12 billion.

Worldpay, once part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, builds and runs the systems that allow retailers to take a customer's card details and ensure their transaction is captured, authorized, processed and settled. It floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2015.

Write to Tapan Panchal at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 04, 2017 05:29 ET (09:29 GMT)

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