By Steve Slater and Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) - British payments processing firm Worldpay took a step nearer a potential 6 billion pound stock market listing by appointing Barclays' (L:BARC) deputy chairman Michael Rake as its new chairman on Wednesday.
Worldpay is owned by Advent International and Bain Capital, who are looking to list it on the London stock market, possibly later this year, and the appointment of Rake will help that process, people familiar with the matter said.
The private equity firms bought Worldpay from Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) in 2010 for about 2 billion pounds and could sell it to another investor, but a listing is the preferred option, two sources said.
Worldpay, which provides the platforms to allow merchants to accept payments by cards and other methods, would be one of Europe's biggest listings in years. The estimated 6 billion pound valuation includes debt of about 2 billion, so its market value could be nearer 4 billion pounds, enough to make it into the FTSE 100 (FTSE) blue-chip share index.
Private equity firms CVC and Hellman & Friedman are considering separate bids for Worldpay, sources said. JPMorgan (N:JPM), which was reportedly seen as a bidder, has no plans to enter the fray, two sources said.
Rake has been on Barclays' board for seven years and its deputy chairman since July 2012. As its senior independent director he was a key figure in the abrupt removal of Chief Executive Antony Jenkins last week.
"It became clear to all of us that a new set of skills were required for the period ahead," Rake said in a statement when Jenkins left, adding he discussed changing the CEO with other non-executives.
Barclays said Rake intended to remain as its deputy chairman and senior independent director until at least the end of 2015.
Rake is also chairman of BT Group (L:BT), and investors typically ask people to "comply or explain" if they are chair of more than one major company.
Rake is one of the City of London's best-known businessmen. He spent over 30 years with KPMG, where he was chairman of KPMG International and is a former president of the Confederation of British Industry and held several other senior roles in business, education and with charities, and advised the prime minister.
He will replace John Allan as Worldpay's chairman. Allan, who is also chairman of retailer Tesco (L:TSCO), said in May he intended to step down as Worldpay chairman this year but would remain on its board. The firm's chief executive is Philip Jansen.
Worldpay processes about 31 million mobile, online and in-store transactions every day and has about 4,500 staff, mostly in Britain and the United States, its two biggest markets.
It made underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 375 million pounds ($586 million) last year, up from 346 million in 2013, on revenues of 3.7 billion pounds.