FIS is mulling a sale of its Worldpay Merchant Solutions business in a reversal of previous plans to spin off the unit as an independent company.
New FIS chief executive Stephanie Ferris embarked on a reappraisal of the company's portfolio of assets as she took over the helm in December with a focus on "identifying and optimising incremental revenue generation, margin improvement and cost reduction opportunities".
The payment giant has already moved to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in costs through the sacking of 2600 staffers, including 1000 contractors.
The review of FIS' business assets was conducted after hedge funds D.E. Shaw and Jana Partners pushed for ways to lift the company's valuation after seeing its shares tank by more than a third over the past year.
According to a report in the Financial Times, FIS is now considering selling a majority stake in Worldpay for a reputed $15 billion amid interest from private equity firms Advent and Chicago-based GTCR.
FIS' merchant operations account for 30% of total revenue, with core banking taking the lions share at 46% and capital markets making up the rest.
Worldpay reported $4.8 billion of revenue and $2.3 billion of Adjusted Ebitda in 2022. The business’ revenue was comprised of 43% enterprise, 27% SMB, and 30% eCommerce in 2022.