- The proposed acquisition would be carried out through an all-stock transaction.
- Fiserv CEO, Jeffery Yabuki would be appointed as the CEO of the merged entity while the CEO of First Data, Frank Bisignano would be appointed as the President & COO.
Fiserv, Inc. (Fiserv), a renowned American financial services company, has reportedly announced that it would be acquiring the New York-based financial services firm, First Data Corporation (First Data) in a $22 billion deal.
Reports cite, while the deal is being proclaimed as a merger, Fiserv would be gaining an upper hand in the transaction as Fiserv CEO, Jeffery Yabuki would be appointed as the CEO of the merged entity while the CEO of First Data, Frank Bisignano would be appointed President & COO.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, First Data shares were up by approximately 19% following the announcement while shares of Fiserv fell by about 5%. The acquisition values the shares of First Data at about $22.74, which is approximately 29% premium based upon the prices over the previous five days.
Following the successful completion of the transaction, shareholders of Fiserv would be owning a majority 57.5% of the merged entity with First Data shareholders owning the remaining 42.5% of the company.
The merger reportedly highlights the general ongoing trend of consolidating several different parts that make up the overall financial services ecosystem, facilitating customers with a one-stop-shop and constructing more integrated services.
The two firms intend to combine their respective pieces of work into offerings that are more integrated. For instance, the companies stated that they would merge the digital merchant account enrollment abilities of First Data into the digital banking solutions provided by Fiserv.
The companies would also be investing over $500 million over the upcoming five years in up and coming tech areas such as digital services, merchant domains, payments and risk management.
According to reports, the acquisition deal is scheduled to be concluded in the final two quarters of 2019.
