The paragraph provides an introduction to the Global Payments First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. It mentions that all participants are initially in listen-only mode and that the conference will be recorded. The call is hosted by Winnie Smith, the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, and the earnings release and accompanying slides are available on the company's website. The paragraph also cautions that management's comments may include forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Additionally, non-GAAP financial measures will be discussed, and a full reconciliation to GAAP measures is available in the press release and supplemental materials on the company's website.

The paragraph outlines a conference call discussing the company's first-quarter results and future plans. CEO Cameron Bready highlights a solid performance with over 5% net revenue growth, 70 basis points of operating margin expansion, and 11% earnings per share growth. Both the Merchant and Issuer businesses grew as expected. The company is actively pursuing a transformation agenda, simplifying its organizational structure, unifying its Merchant business, advancing technology harmonization, and increasing its benefit target to $600 million. They are positioning themselves to integrate Worldpay post-closing. The focus is also on divesting the Issuer Solutions business and acquiring Worldpay as part of their refocused strategy and transformation plans.

The paragraph discusses the strategic rationale behind the merger of Global Payments and Worldpay, and the divestiture of the Issuer Solutions segment. The merger aims to leverage the complementary nature of Global Payments and Worldpay's merchant businesses to enhance growth and competitiveness. The divestiture of Issuer Solutions, which targets large financial institutions differently from merchant solutions, aligns with the company's strategic objectives and focus on core areas. These transactions are expected to accelerate Global Payments' transformation strategy, simplify the business, and position it for long-term success, while also addressing shareholder concerns about capital returns.

The paragraph outlines the strategic focus of a company aiming to enhance its business value by concentrating on Merchant Solutions. A transaction with Worldpay will strengthen its global presence and capabilities by combining Global Payments' strengths in SMB solutions and point of sale technology with Worldpay's e-commerce and enterprise strengths. This merger creates a comprehensive commerce solutions platform, promising accelerated growth, enhanced client experiences, and a robust innovation pipeline with over $1 billion in capital investment annually. The focus on Merchant Solutions is expected to optimize investment impact and improve returns on capital.

The paragraph discusses a company's positive engagement and feedback from customers regarding a new transaction, highlighting the enhanced capabilities and services it will offer. The transaction is expected to significantly improve the company's financial profile, with projected net revenue of $12.5 billion and $6.5 billion in EBITDA. The company aims to achieve $600 million in cost synergies and $200 million in revenue synergies through various strategic initiatives. These efforts will enhance growth and allow the company to return more capital to shareholders, aligning with its goals from an Investor Conference.

In September, Global Payments launched a strategy to become a leading global partner for commerce solutions by unifying its Merchant business into three product pillars: point of sale in software, integrated and embedded, and core payments. The focus is on addressing merchant needs across over 100 markets and offering exceptional customer service. The acquisition of Worldpay strengthens these pillars, enhancing scalability, competitiveness, and client value. By integrating Worldpay's resources, Global Payments aims to expand its point of sale offerings, enhance software partner services, and improve e-commerce capabilities for a seamless omnichannel experience.

The paragraph discusses how the integration of Worldpay enhances the company's international distribution and market presence in regions like Japan, France, and the Nordics. It highlights progress in transformation initiatives, consolidating Merchant, Technology, and Operations organizations, and pursuing a clear integration strategy. By completing the Worldpay transaction, the company aims to launch new point-of-sale platforms, revamp its sales organization, and position itself competitively with a customer-focused, agile approach. The combined entity will process significant transaction volumes globally, with extensive merchant coverage and global reach across 175 countries, supported by a robust sales force.

The article outlines the comprehensive services offered by the combined Global Payments and Worldpay entity, covering the entire merchant journey from onboarding to business intelligence. By enhancing managed PayFac capabilities, they aim to support various operating models and accelerate innovation through a full spectrum of products backed by advanced technology and reliable infrastructure. Bob Cortopassi highlights Worldpay's progress under GTCR's ownership, emphasizing its growth across 175 countries and improvements in technology and product offerings in e-commerce, enterprise, platforms, and SMB channels. Worldpay has particularly strengthened areas like alternative payment methods, FX solutions, and fraud management, broadening its industry position.

The paragraph outlines Worldpay's strategy to enhance its offerings and growth potential across various sectors. It details how Worldpay addresses enterprise payment orchestration needs and underscores its significant revenue contribution and growth. The company’s platforms business, through Payrix, attracts high-growth partners by offering versatile and flexible solutions tailored for software and platform partners, boasting revenue growth exceeding 20%. Additionally, Worldpay collaborates with 1,400 omnichannel software partners across diverse verticals. Efforts to improve its SMB portfolio focus on rebuilding sales capacity and integrating leading solutions, leveraging nearly 1 million SMB customers to drive growth. Overall, the partnership is expected to yield significant revenue synergies of at least $200 million annually within three years.

The paragraph outlines key strategic opportunities following the integration of Worldpay's capabilities with Global Payments. It emphasizes extending Worldpay's e-commerce and enterprise solutions across Global Payments' existing markets and enhancing services for SMB merchant customers. It also highlights plans to leverage Worldpay's distribution channels to expand Global Payments' commerce enablement solutions, such as the Genius point-of-sale technology. Furthermore, there is a focus on expanding integrated and embedded payment solutions using Payrix. Overall, the integration is expected to drive revenue growth through synergy and a comprehensive, well-researched strategy.

The paragraph discusses the advantages of merging two businesses to enhance visibility and address opportunities with partners, networks, and clients. The combined scale allows for accelerated investment in key areas, dedicating over $1 billion annually to support growth. These investments will focus on digital-native and omnichannel solutions, enhancing point-of-sale features, developer experiences, and commerce enablement capabilities. The company aims to integrate the businesses with a unified operating model, focusing on a common brand and commercialization to drive revenue growth and meet synergy expectations. Global Payments has already unified its technology teams, leveraging common platforms to improve client and partner experiences.

The paragraph discusses the integration of an orchestration layer, recently acquired, to enhance product distribution across platforms globally. Worldpay is undergoing a technology modernization centered on a single access API architecture to meet merchant and partner needs with global and vertical capabilities. This integration will leverage Worldpay's architectures and capabilities in commerce enablement, e-commerce, risk and fraud management, and payment facilitation. They are prepared for seamless integration with identified leadership and ready work streams. The paragraph transitions to Josh Whipple discussing their medium-term financial outlook, projecting mid-single-digit revenue growth and operating margin expansion by 2025, with plans for accelerated growth in 2026 and 2027.

The paragraph discusses the positive outlook for the Merchant business and Worldpay under the ownership of GTCR. Both businesses are expected to achieve growth and margin expansion, aligning with Global Payments' guidance for 2025-2027. They are projected to experience mid-single-digit growth, with potential improvements over the years. The combination of the two businesses is anticipated to generate significant synergies, including at least $200 million in annual revenue synergies and $600 million in cost synergies within three years. The cost savings will result from technology consolidation, streamlined operations, and optimized facilities.

The paragraph discusses anticipated financial benefits from achieving cost synergies by eliminating duplicate corporate structures and realizing economies of scale, which are expected to significantly improve the business's long-term financial profile. Revenue growth is projected to accelerate in 2026, with high single-digit growth and margin expansion in 2027, doubling previous goals. The transaction is immediately accretive and elevates adjusted EPS growth projections to mid-teens in the medium term. Investments in innovation will see an increase, with capital spending maintained at 7% to 8% of adjusted net revenue, focusing on Merchant Solutions. Additionally, the company plans to return approximately $7 billion to shareholders between 2025 and 2027, aligning with prior commitments, and expects a 50% increase in free cash flow and capital return by 2028 due to these transactions. This will enhance the company's ability to invest in growth and return more capital to shareholders.

The article discusses the company's financial strategy and performance, highlighting its commitment to reducing net leverage to three times within 18 to 24 months to maintain investment-grade credit ratings and support future investments. The company reported consistent execution and financial results despite macroeconomic uncertainties, achieving an adjusted net revenue of $2.2 billion with constant currency growth over 5%, excluding certain disposals and market exits. Despite some growth challenges due to unfavorable foreign exchange rates and disposals like AdvancedMD and exits in Asia Pacific, consumer spending patterns remained stable. The company is monitoring tariff negotiations but remains confident in its diversified business model to handle the current economic environment. Additionally, the adjusted operating margin increased by 70 basis points, or 40 basis points when excluding dispositions.

The article discusses the financial performance of various business segments. Overall adjusted earnings per share rose by 11% to $2.69, or $2.82 excluding share-based compensation. The Merchant Solutions segment reported a 6% adjusted net revenue growth to $1.69 billion, despite challenges such as market exits and currency impacts. This growth was driven by strong performance in POS, software, and integrated businesses. The segment achieved an improved adjusted operating margin of 47.8%. Issuer Solutions saw a 3% increase in adjusted revenues to $529 million, primarily due to consumer card volumes, although its operating margin decreased to 46.3% due to weaker commercial volumes and investments in modernization. The segment added 15 million accounts and renewed four multi-year deals.

The paragraph discusses the company's recent financial performance and future outlook. They reported $512 million in adjusted free cash flow for the quarter, with a conversion rate from adjusted net income of about 77%. The company anticipates a similar conversion rate in the coming year, aided by seasonal trends. They reclassified certain cash flow items and invested $128 million in capital expenditures, aiming for $780 million by year-end. Their net leverage ratio was under 3.2 times, and they repurchased $450 million in shares. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with $3.8 billion in liquidity and 94% of debt at a fixed rate of 3.5%. For 2025, they reaffirm their guidance for adjusted net revenue, operating margin, and earnings per share, expecting 5-6% net revenue growth over 2024, excluding dispositions, despite a foreign currency headwind of just over 100 basis points.

The article outlines financial forecasts and expectations for 2025, predicting an annual adjusted operating margin increase of about 50 basis points, excluding disposals. The Merchant business is expected to see adjusted net revenue growth of roughly 6% and a 50 basis point margin expansion. Issuer Solutions is anticipated to achieve 4% revenue growth and a 50 basis point margin increase. Growth is expected to be higher in the second half of the year due to transformation initiatives and renewal cycles. Adjusted free cash flow conversion is expected to exceed 90%. Capital allocation will focus on maintaining a 3.5 times net leverage at transaction closure, with proceeds from divestitures prioritizing shareholder returns, targeting 3 times net leverage by end-2025. Overall adjusted EPS growth is projected at 10-11% on a constant currency basis, consistent with projected quarterly dynamics.

The paragraph expresses excitement about the acquisition of Worldpay and its potential to enhance strategic focus, transformation, and financial performance. It highlights the alignment with previous value strategies and outlines the divestiture and acquisition as a unique opportunity for transformation, growth, and value creation. The acquisition of Worldpay strengthens the company's merchant business by expanding its global presence, broadening its product range, and diversifying its customer base. The integration aims to streamline operations and accelerate growth, with a focus on becoming a more agile, product-led, and customer-centric organization. There is confidence in achieving cost savings and revenue synergies through complementary solutions, with a strategic approach to integration and value realization.

The paragraph is an excerpt from a financial discussion about the strong performance and future outlook of the company, focusing on the merger between Global Payments and Worldpay. The speaker expresses excitement about the upcoming Genius product launch, emphasizing its potential to replace legacy platforms and discussing strategies for its rollout, including managing potential attrition risks. The speaker thanks the team for their efforts and invites questions from analysts, starting with Jason Kupferberg from Bank of America, who inquires about the implementation plans for the standalone business and merger scenario. Cameron Bready and Bob will provide further details on the rollout and transition strategy.

The paragraph outlines the company's strategic focus on driving business growth through new product releases, specifically the Genius platform. In the short term, the emphasis is on capturing opportunities with new clients, referred to as the "front book," by generating excitement and demonstrating new product capabilities. While prioritizing new client acquisition, the company also plans to support current clients in transitioning from legacy systems to the new platform over time, known as the "back book." The strategy includes leveraging Worldpay's distribution channels and client base to expand the Genius platform's reach. Bob Cortopassi is invited to provide further details on these strategies, which are framed in terms of "push" versus "pull" strategies and their relation to front and back book objectives.

The paragraph discusses the rollout of a new platform called "Genius," emphasizing that it will be primarily driven by new customer opportunities but also available to existing clients who can transition at their own pace. There is no forced migration for current users, allowing for a flexible transition. The speaker is confident that customers will not leave due to the new platform, as it offers improved capabilities, a modern infrastructure, and bespoke hardware. The conversation then shifts to questions about Worldpay's revenue growth, clarifying whether it's organic, and inquiries about share buyback plans and EPS growth for 2026 and 2027, with considerations for debt reduction after a business close.

The paragraph discusses the growth and investment strategies of Worldpay, highlighting their focus on organic growth, particularly in their e-commerce and enterprise business segments. Worldpay has invested significantly in technology and product development, enhancing their capabilities in alternative payment methods, FX solutions, and other areas. These investments are driving positive outcomes and new sales, supporting mid-single-digit growth that is expected to accelerate to high-single-digit growth by 2027. Additionally, they discussed the Payrix asset as a key growth driver and mentioned returning $7.5 billion of capital to shareholders between 2025 and 2027. Josh Whipple is expected to provide further details on these financial plans.

The paragraph discusses a financial transaction and its impact on capital returns to shareholders. The company expects to return over $2 billion in share repurchases in 2026 and over $3 billion in 2027. They are targeting a leverage ratio of 3 times within 18 to 24 months while maintaining their capital return plans. The company plans to increase capital returns by 10% in 2026 and 2027 compared to their standalone plan, and they anticipate a 50% increase in their capacity to return capital by 2028. Despite technical difficulties during the call, the discussion resumes with a new question from Tien-Tsin Huang of JPMorgan.

In the paragraph, Cameron Bready addresses the importance of an acquired orchestration layer in a deal, highlighting its role in minimizing client disruption and simplifying platform decision-making. Bready emphasizes that what clients prioritize is easy access, with a single integration allowing them to utilize any product or solution offered, along with consolidated reporting and analytics. The orchestration layer helps achieve this by managing complexity internally, aligning with Worldpay's architectural approach, and making it easier for clients to operate effectively with seamless access and comprehensive back-end support.

The paragraph discusses the importance of orchestration capabilities in integrating and delivering new products and experiences to clients more efficiently, without complicating the technology environment for them. Bob Cortopassi adds that these capabilities enhance technology, platforms, and products by virtually flattening internal architecture, enabling seamless use of AI and machine learning across various platforms without consolidating data into a single lake. This approach accelerates product delivery globally and aids in integrating Worldpay with Global Payments by creating unified entry and exit points for platform integration, reporting, and management.

The paragraph consists of a discussion between Tien-Tsin Huang and Cameron Bready about Global Payments' plans to streamline its business by targeting $500 million to $600 million in revenue dispositions over the next few years. So far, they have completed about $300 million in dispositions. This effort is part of an ongoing strategy to simplify the business and focus on areas where they are a strong player, enabling better long-term growth. At an Investor Conference, these plans were highlighted, and there's an indication that more dispositions are expected. Additionally, Adam Frisch from Evercore ISI asks for an update on the rollout of the Genius platform and the rebranding efforts on the technology side.

The paragraph discusses the progress of integration and rebranding efforts at Global Payments. Cameron Bready mentions that they are aligning their point-of-sale products with the Genius platform brand, aiming for a unified brand both internally and externally by the time of the Worldpay merger. This rebranding is expected to continue throughout the year. Bob Cortopassi discusses the "Salesforce of the Future" initiative, which is focused on aligning sales teams and leadership by region. This restructuring is complete, with the sales force now segmented into enterprise and SMB divisions, ensuring a unified approach to the market.

The paragraph discusses the progress made in the SMB channel regarding sales organization and strategies. Three key areas are highlighted: completion of reorganizing sales around the Americas and the Rest of the World, aligning compensation and incentives for salespeople, and enhancing sales capabilities like CRM and training. The sales team is optimistic about the new capabilities and incentive structures, which are expected to drive better sales performance and earnings through bundle selling. Although there have been challenges over the past six to nine months, the company is confident in its progress, with a strong sales month in March and a promising pipeline, particularly with Worldpay.

The paragraph discusses the growth and success of Worldpay's three business segments: enterprise and e-commerce, platforms integrated, and core SMB. All segments have shown increased sales and improved growth trajectories for 2023 through 2025. The effectiveness of the sales force is attributed to strong solutions, a rich reward and compensation program, and the potential for business growth globally. Cameron Bready emphasizes that Worldpay's distribution channels complement the existing business, with no significant overlaps. Adam Frisch requests additional details on revenue growth components - how much is due to organic growth versus pricing increases.

Josh Whipple expresses confidence in the medium-term growth targets for the combined business, projecting top-line growth acceleration in 2026 and reaching high-single-digit growth by 2027. The adjusted operating margins are expected to expand by 100 to 200 basis points, reaching mid-teen growth. The combined business aims to generate over $4 billion of adjusted free cash flow annually, an increase from the $3 billion target on a standalone basis. By 2028, the transactions should boost free cash flow by about $5 billion, allowing for more than $4 billion returns to shareholders, despite maintaining a three times leverage point. Cameron Bready adds that revenue growth is primarily organic, driven by strong new sales production and stable same-store sales trends.

The paragraph discusses Global Payments' confidence in its revenue growth, pricing optimization, and margin expansion strategies, which align with their previous guidance for 2025-2027. Cameron Bready expresses confidence in the company's ability to manage through recessionary pressures as a pure-play merchant business, highlighting their track record of navigating various macroeconomic environments. The discussion also notes that the business is well-positioned for future growth, anticipating changes from a merger expected to complete in the first half of 2026.

The paragraph discusses the diverse and resilient nature of the company's Merchant and Issuer businesses across various geographic and vertical markets. The company feels well-prepared to manage effectively through different macroeconomic environments due to this diversification and the characteristics of the Worldpay business, which has defensive qualities and strong exposure to durable sectors like big-box retail and grocery. The increased scale and financial strength of the pro forma business post-transactions instill confidence in the model's ability to manage economic fluctuations and generate long-term value for shareholders. Cameron Bready expresses appreciation for a successful quarter, and the conversation transitions to a question from Dave Koning.

In the paragraph, Cameron Bready responds to a question from Dave about how their company's small and medium business (SMB) volume held up well at 6% in a market where competitors showed a decline. Bready notes that trends were stable from Q4 to Q1, despite challenges like the leap year impact, and they even saw more strength internationally than expected. He expresses confidence in the company's progress and transformation efforts, which are leading to positive outcomes and giving them a good momentum moving into Q2 and beyond. Dave Koning appreciates the response, and then the operator introduces the next question from Timothy Chiodo with UBS.

In the paragraph, Cameron Bready discusses the company's investment in the Genius product and other point-of-sale (POS) platforms. He emphasizes that significant investments have been made over the years in developing and enhancing POS capabilities and products for clients. The challenge, however, has been in broadening and focusing these investments across the business to ensure more effective and efficient outcomes. The goal is to strengthen singular platforms to enhance capabilities, improve market introduction, and ultimately support growth and client satisfaction.

The paragraph discusses the recent and ongoing focus on consolidating investments into unified platforms for retail and restaurant markets globally. The aim is to enhance the Genius platform with competitive point-of-sale (POS) features. Bob Cortopassi highlights that this strategic consolidation acts as an accelerator for innovation without increasing investment, allowing for more efficient allocation of resources. The merger with Worldpay, involving substantial investment, is seen as a significant growth and innovation area, indicating sustained prioritization into development and integration efforts.

In the paragraph, Cameron Bready discusses the benefits of the merger between Global Payments and Worldpay, highlighting the combined capacity for innovation and scale. He emphasizes that the merger enhances investment capabilities, allowing for accelerated innovation in terms of feature development and product capabilities. The scale is significant, with $4 trillion in processing volume annually and over 100 billion transactions, providing substantial benefits. Bready believes this combination will lead to better long-term outcomes for the business. Andrew Schmidt from Citi asks for more details on how product management across SMB and enterprise will be impacted by this increased capacity for innovation and scale.

The paragraph discusses a strategic vision for merging two businesses, emphasizing three key industry trends. First, it anticipates that enterprise and SMB customer expectations will converge, with SMBs seeking capabilities traditionally available to larger enterprises. Second, it highlights the acceleration of digital-native commerce and the need for top-tier tools to support it globally, emphasizing Worldpay's role in offering feature-rich solutions. Finally, it identifies the evolution of embedded commerce models and the importance of having diverse tools and tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of software platform marketplace partners.

The paragraph discusses the strategic benefits of the Worldpay transaction in positioning the company for long-term industry trends. It highlights the importance of providing comprehensive solutions for a range of merchants, from enterprise to small and medium businesses (SMBs), and serving digital-native markets. The transaction aims to enhance product and capability offerings to support various software platform partners and operating models. This strategic move is expected to drive growth, create shareholder value, and attract market trends. Bob Cortopassi mentions that the company's approach to product management involves utilizing common technology stacks and platforms across different business segments to ensure centralized product management and oversight.

The paragraph discusses the importance of adapting product capabilities to specific verticals and geographies in the market. This involves making sophisticated enterprise functionalities accessible and easy-to-use for small and mid-market businesses (SMBs). A historical example is given where Global Payments democratized Visa's complex account updater feature for SMBs. The company aims to continue this approach with digital-native enterprise capabilities, emphasizing the necessity for all businesses to maintain a digital presence in an increasingly omnichannel world.

In the paragraph, Andrew Schmidt and Josh Whipple discuss Worldpay's capabilities and the optimism about its role in payments across merchant demographics. Andrew appreciates the convergence and democratization in the payments industry and asks about macroeconomic sensitivities in the company's outlook. Josh responds by indicating that, despite some macroeconomic uncertainties, consumer spending remains resilient, and they expect stable spending trends for the year. The call concludes with Cameron Bready thanking the participants for joining early and apologizing for the extended session.

The paragraph expresses anticipation for completing transformational transactions and integrating Worldpay to enhance global commerce. It thanks the audience for their interest in Global Payments and mentions plans for follow-up communication. The conference call is then concluded by the operator.

This summary was generated with AI and may contain some inaccuracies.