Worldpay share flotation aims to raise £890m

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Payment processing company Worldpay has said it plans to raise £890m by listing its shares on the London stock market.

The flotation could give the company a market value of nearly £4bn and push it into the FTSE 100 index of the largest UK-listed firms.

The company says it processes about 31 million transactions a day on mobiles, online and in stores.

Worldpay said it would use the money raised from the flotation to reduce debts.

In 2014, the company's revenues were £863.4m, with underlying earnings of £374.7m.

Worldpay is currently owned by two private equity firms, Advent International and Bain Capital, who bought the company from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010 for £1.7bn.

"Worldpay has been transformed into a global leader in payments since it became an independent company in 2010," said Worldpay chief executive Philip Jansen.

"The IPO is an exciting and logical next step as we seek to continue this momentum. It will enable us to access new capital for growth, augment our global proposition and further enhance our ability to serve customers across the world."

There were reports earlier in the week that Worldpay had received a takeover approach from French company Ingenico.

Shares in Ingenico were up more than 7% in Paris on news of Worldpay's flotation plans.