Global Payments Inc. (GPN) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its issuer processing business to Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) on a cash- and debt-free basis for $13.5 billion, while simultaneously acquiring Worldpay on a cash- and debt-free basis for $24.2 billion. S&P Global Ratings believes the added scale, product breadth, and geographic reach the company will gain from its acquisition of Worldpay will likely be sufficient to offset the loss of its issuer processing business. We also forecast, based on the level of committed financing, that GPN's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted pro forma leverage will rise to about 4.25x as of the close of the transaction (we have estimated this to be March 31, 2026). Nonetheless,
