Blog Coverage Global Payment Processor First Data Acquires its Smaller Rival CardConnect

Upcoming AWS Coverage on Genpact Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2017 / Active Wall St. blog coverage looks at the headline from Atlanta, Georgia based First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) as the Company announced the acquisition of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania based CardConnect Corp. on May 29, 2017. The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $750 million. The acquisition will help First Data access CardConnect’s proprietary technology, which would help it expand its geographic footprint and diversify its client base. Register with us now for your free membership and blog access at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

One of First Data’s competitors within the Business Services space, Genpact Limited (NYSE: G), posted on May 04, 2017, its financial results for Q1 2017 which ended on March 31, 2017. AWS will be initiating a research report on Genpact in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its blog coverage on FDC; touching on G. Get all of our free blog coverage and more by clicking on the link below: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

Sharing his views on the acquisition, Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO of First Data said:

“This transaction is consistent with our strategy of integrating and scaling innovative technologies across our distribution footprint to better serve our partners and customers. CardConnect is a long-standing First Data distribution partner and we are excited to incorporate their state-of-the-art solutions across some of our most important strategic initiatives such as partner-centric distribution, integrated payments, and enterprise payments solutions.”

Jeff Shanahan, President and CEO of CardConnect added:

“This transaction improves our ability to innovate and deliver leading technology-oriented commerce solutions to our combined customer base. In addition, we believe our growth trajectory improves with First Data’s breadth of products and its powerful distribution network.”

The deal

As per the agreement signed by both companies, a subsidiary of First Data will acquire all the outstanding shares of CardConnect via a tender offer. First Data will pay $15.00 in cash for each of CardConnect’s share. Any CardConnect’s share not tendered will be converted into a right to receive $15.00 per share in cash. The total value of the transaction works out to approximately $750 million. The value of the transaction includes repayment of CardConnect’s outstanding debt and the redemption of CardConnect’s preferred stock.

First Data plans to finance the acquisition using available cash in hand as existing credit facilities.

CardConnect’s Board of Directors has approved the merger. Additionally, nearly 40% of its shareholders owning the Company’s common stock have entered into agreements to support the tender of the shares and approved the merger with First Data. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2017 and is subject to the expiry of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, regulatory approvals, and other closing conditions.

Advantages of the merger

First Data is one of the largest payment processing companies in the world. Its technology and services are being used across approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. It secures and processes more than 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion per year.

On the other hand, CardConnect was founded in 2006 and is an innovative payment processing company that has developed advanced payment solutions backed by patented, PCI-certified point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and tokenization. CardConnect processes approximately $26 billion from about 67,000 merchant customers. FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FNTC) completed the acquisition of CardConnect in August 2016 after which it became a publicly traded as CardConnect Corp. on the NASDAQ under symbol “CCN”.

Incidentally, CardConnect is an existing distribution partner of First Data. The merger further strengthens this relationship.

The transaction will enable First Data to take advantage of CardConnect’s innovative partner management tools, which will help it to improve merchant retention.

The acquisition will allow First Data to strengthen its ERP-integrated payment solutions. CardConnect’s tools and technology will be easily available for First Data’s joint ventures, acquiring partnerships, and other distribution channels.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to First Data’s adjusted EPS before cost savings within a year after the completion of the merger.

Stock Performance

On Thursday, June 01, 2017, the stock closed the trading session at $17.79, rising 3.85% from its previous closing price of $17.13. A total volume of 12.20 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 3.35 million shares. First Data’s stock price soared 11.47% in the last three months, 19.80% in the past six months, and 40.63% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock surged 25.37% since the start of the year. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 32.05 and currently has a market cap of $16.38 billion.

Active Wall Street:

Active Wall Street (AWS) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and micro-cap stocks. AWS has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.

AWS has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:

The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by a writer (the “Author”) and is fact checked and reviewed by a third party research service company (the “Reviewer”) represented by a credentialed financial analyst [for further information on analyst credentials, please email info@activewallst.com. Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charterholder (the “Sponsor”), provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates. The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary, based on publicly available information which is believed to be reliable. Content is researched, written and reviewed on a reasonable-effort basis. The Reviewer has not performed any independent investigations or forensic audits to validate the information herein. The Reviewer has only independently reviewed the information provided by the Author according to the procedures outlined by AWS. AWS is not entitled to veto or interfere in the application of such procedures by the third-party research service company to the articles, documents or reports, as the case may be. Unless otherwise noted, any content outside of this document has no association with the Author or the Reviewer in any way.

NO WARRANTY

AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer are not responsible for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this document. AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from any reliance placed on the information in this document. Additionally, AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer do not (1) guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information, or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The included information is subject to change without notice.

NOT AN OFFERING

This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only. Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full before investing. Neither AWS nor any party affiliated with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit http://www.activewallst.com/disclaimer/.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly. If you’re a company we are covering and wish to no longer feature on our coverage list contact us via email and/or phone between 09:30 EDT to 16:00 EDT from Monday to Friday at:

Email: info@activewallst.com

Phone number: 1-858-257-3144

Office Address: 3rd floor, 207 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, United Kingdom

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: Active Wall Street

ReleaseID: 464694