Mar 18, 2019

Fidelity National agrees to buy Worldpay for $35 billion

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Fidelity National Information Services has agreed to buy payments processor Worldpay for approximately $35 billion (not including debt) in cash and stock, or $112.12 per share, a 14% premium over Friday's closing price.

Why it matters: It's a reminder that legacy payments companies won't go down without a consolidation fight.

History: Worldpay was acquired just 19 months ago by Cincinnati-based Vantiv, which beat out JPMorgan, for just under $10 billion (combined co value at the time was around $22 billion).

  • The bottom line: "You'd think more competition would drive valuations down, but no, they’re all going up. Literally no one is being disrupted," said Axios' Felix Salmon.

Go deeper

Margaret Talev
31 mins ago - Politics & Policy

President Trump's suburbs

Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call.

President Trump cast an outdated vision of "the 'suburban housewife'" as he swiped this week at Joe Biden's newly minted running mate Kamala Harris — building on his months-long play to drive a wedge through battleground-state suburbs by reframing white voters' expectations.

The big picture: As he struggles to find an attack that will stick against the Biden campaign, Trump for a while now has been stoking fears of lawless cities and an end to what he's called the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream.” It’s a playbook from the ‘70s and ‘80s — but the suburbs have changed a lot since then.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Sara Fischer, Ashley Gold, Kyle Daly, Dan Primack
10 hours ago - Technology

Trump tightens screws on ByteDance to sell Tiktok

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

President Trump added more pressure Friday night on China-based TikTok parent ByteDance to exit the U.S., ordering it to divest all assets related to the U.S. operation of TikTok within 90 days.

Between the lines: The order means ByteDance must be wholly disentangled from TikTok in the U.S. by November. Trump had previously ordered TikTok banned if ByteDance hadn't struck a deal within 45 days. The new order likely means ByteDance has just another 45 days after that to fully close the deal, one White House source told Axios.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9:30 p.m. ET: 21,056,850 — Total deaths: 762,293— Total recoveries: 13,100,902 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9:30 p.m ET: 5,306,215 — Total deaths: 168,334 — Total recoveries: 1,796,309 — Total tests: 65,676,624 — Map.
  3. Health: CDC: Survivors of COVID-19 have up to three months of immunity —Fauci believes normalcy will return by "the end of 2021" with vaccine — The pandemic's toll on mental health — FDA releases first-ever list of medical supplies in shortage.
  4. States: California passes 600,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
  5. Cities: Coronavirus pandemic dims NYC's annual 9/11 Tribute in Light.
  6. Business: How small businesses got stiffed — Unemployment starts moving in the right direction.
  7. Politics: Biden signals fall strategy with new ads.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow