Vantiv to buy payments processor Worldpay for around $10 billion

Payment processing giant Vantiv has reached a deal to acquire London-based processing rival Worldpay for around $10 billion. The deal is expected to increase Vantiv's customer base among online retailers and small businesses.

Worldpay processes payment transactions in 146 countries and maintains a major hold over the processing market in Britain. Earlier this week, Worldpay revealed that it had was approached by Vantiv and JP Morgan Chase with takeover offers, with JP Morgan ultimately bowing out.

The boards of Worldpay and Vantiv cited "compelling strategic, commercial and financial rationale" for the merger, as well as "substantial opportunities for cost synergies," according to the regulatory announcement from the London Stock Exchange. The combined company would also expand Vantiv's footprint in the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America, the boards said.

Vantiv is currently the largest merchant acquirer by transaction volume and the largest PIN debit acquirer in the US. In terms of acquisitions, Vantiv has made some strategic purchases over the last several years that were focused on boosting its presence in new markets and customer segments.

In 2014, Vantiv bought Mercury Payment Systems for $1.65 billion in an effort to grow its portfolio of integrated payments services. Integrated payments refer to tools that business can use to integrate accounting, customer relationship management, and other business applications with payments processing.

In April, Vantiv acquired Paymetric, an electronic payments software firm focused on the lucrative B2B channel, which Vantiv estimates to be worth $30 trillion.