Vantiv Shares Slump Almost 4% After Worldpay Offer

Shares of U.S. credit-card processor Vantiv Inc. slumped almost 4% Wednesday after resuming trading following a halt for the news that it has agreed to merger terms with the U.K.'s Worldpay Group Inc. in a deal valued at $10 billion. Worldpay and Vantiv announced the deal early Wednesday, beating out rival J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , which said shortly after that it would not be making an offer of its own. Vantiv is offering a total of 3.85 pounds in a cash and stock offer that is about 19% above Worldpay's closing price on Monday. Analysts at Stifel said in a note written before the terms were released that a deal would make strategic sense, although they were wary of it coming at too high a price. Speculation on Tuesday had placed the price at a higher range than the one agreed. While PayPal's name was not mentioned in any of the coverage of the deal on Tuesday, "we think it makes sense strategically and wouldn't be surprised to see PYPL enter the fray," they wrote. PayPal shares were last up 2%. Vantiv shares have gained 1.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.6%.