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Prague, July 15, 2008 - Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN), a world leader in electronic transaction processing services, announced today the appointment of James R. Hicks as President of its Prague-based, wholly-owned subsidiary, Global Payments Europe, s.r.o. Mr. Hicks most recently served as Senior Vice President, Product Development and Marketing, for Global Payments’ Canadian subsidiary, Global Payments Canada, GP.
Global Payments Europe provides financial institutions a comprehensive package of payment services including credit, debit, gift and private label card transaction processing, the installation, management and servicing of ATM (Automatic Teller Machines) and POS (Point-of-Sale) terminals, and card issuing services such as card database management and card personalization. The Company currently serves the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, Poland, Slovakia, Bosnia Herzegovina and the Ukraine and also provides mCommerce, eCommerce and other value-added services.
“I am very pleased to be welcoming James to the Global Payments Europe team,” said Carl Williams, President, Worldwide Payment Processing for Global Payments Inc. “His knowledge, leadership and experience will be an excellent addition to our European business, and the passion that he has for the payments industry will help us to continually build upon the commitment of excellence we provide to our many Financial Institution clients.”
ATLANTA, June 17, 2008 - Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading provider of electronic transaction processing solutions, announced today it has agreed to form a joint venture with HSBC Bank plc (“HSBC”) to provide payment processing services to merchants in the United Kingdom and Internet merchants globally. The new company will operate under the name HSBC Merchant Services.
HSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc (LSE: HSBA), one of the largest financial services institutions in the world, with assets of approximately $2.4 trillion and approximately 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories, as of December 31, 2007. In the United Kingdom, HSBC Bank estimates that its merchant acquiring business commands an approximate 15 percent market share by providing payment card processing services across 135,000 merchant outlets.
“We are thrilled that HSBC, one of the world’s most respected financial institutions, has agreed to expand its relationship with Global Payments into the United Kingdom,” said Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Global Payments, Paul R. Garcia. “We expect to focus on growing the customer base by providing an expansive range of card payment solutions. Longer-term, with the adoption of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiatives, we expect to be in an excellent position to provide seamless acquiring services to merchants throughout Europe,” Garcia continued.
“The creation of HSBC Merchant Services builds on our partnerships with Global Payments in Asia and North America,” said Group General Manager Commercial Banking, Alan Keir. “Through the combination of HSBC’s extensive business customer franchise, and Global Payments’ experience in transaction handling, HSBC Merchant Services will offer a compelling proposition,” added Keir.
“We are pleased to be joining a leading provider of electronic payment processing solutions. Being a part of a strong company that understands our business will be welcomed by our merchant customers and provide new opportunities for our 400 employees,” said Head of Card Acquiring for HSBC, Darren Wilson.
Under the terms of the agreement, and pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, Global Payments will pay HSBC $439 million in cash to acquire a 51 percent majority ownership in the joint venture. HSBC will control the remaining 49 percent and will contribute its existing merchant acquiring business in the United Kingdom to the joint venture. In addition, the bank has agreed to a ten-year marketing alliance in which HSBC will refer customers to the joint venture for payment processing services in the United Kingdom. The transaction is expected to be completed within two months.
For the calendar year 2007, HSBC’s merchant acquiring business in the United Kingdom generated revenue of approximately $229 million (₤114 million). Global Payments expects the transaction to be accretive to diluted earnings per share in the first year following the close of the transaction. Global Payments’ management will discuss this acquisition during its fiscal 2008 year-end earnings call in July 2008.
