Mergers & Acquisitions

Discover loses high-stakes gamble

Tue, Jan, 12 2010

Discover Financial Services may have hoped to have severed all ties with its former owner Morgan Stanley following Discover’s spin-off from the US financial services giant in 2007. But a protracted legal dispute could now see Discover having to hand over $800 million to Morgan Stanley.

All quiet on the western front

Tue, Jan, 12 2010

Card International’s dealwatch keeps track of the mergers and acquisitions taking place in the global payment industry. This month, while deals are still being forged between the smaller players, many of the larger firms are looking to welcome the New Year in as quietly as possible

All change at the processors

Wed, Dec, 9 2009

The European processing landscape, long characterised by consolidation, is set to be redrawn again following the news that Equens has signed an agreement with France’s Crédit Agricole’s payment processing subsidiary Cedicam to explore the possibility of the two entities merging.

Smaller players step up

Wed, Nov, 11 2009

CI’s dealwatch keeps track of the mergers and acquisitions taking place in the global payment industry, and this month, smaller payment players are stepping into the spotlight.

Card portfolio sales dominate

Tue, Sep, 15 2009

August and September are traditionally quiet times for mergers and acquisitions, although a few notable deals have been struck. For those hoping for the mega-sized deals which dominated M&A activity just a few years ago, the wait goes on. CI’s dealwatch keeps track of the deals taking place in the industry.

M&A activity makes a tentative return

Wed, Aug, 12 2009

After a lacklustre period in which merger and acquisition activity ground to a halt, it appears that some momentum is picking up, although it will be some time before we see a return to the mega-deals of a few years ago. CI’s dealwatch, a new monthly feature, will keep track of the deals taking place in the industry.

First Data adapts to changing landscape

Thu, Jul, 9 2009

As vice-president of payment strategy at First Data, Paul Stanley has played an instrumental role in growing the processor’s market share.

Wachovia hands over credit card processing to First Data

Fri, Jun, 12 2009

(Free) Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest US banking group by assets and recent acquirer of beleaguered institution Wachovia, has announced it is to move the newly-acquired bank’s credit card portfolio over to global payment and processing specialist First Data.

Merchant acquiring for beginners

Fri, May, 29 2009

Merchant acquiring is one of the fundamental aspects of the entire card payment process, but perhaps it has not been given the attention it deserves.

CUP and Global Payments go global

Thu, Apr, 30 2009

(Free) Chinese bank card network China UnionPay (CUP) and US payment processor and merchant acquirer Global Payments have signed a global cooperation agreement in a landmark deal that will significantly increase the acceptance of CUP cards worldwide.