Vantiv will buy Mercury Payment Systems for $1.65B

NEW YORK (AP) -- Payment processor Vantiv said Monday that it will spend $1.65 billion to buy Mercury Payment Systems, which helps retailers process credit, debit and check payments.

Cincinnati-based Vantiv said the deal will expand its online commerce business into Mercury Payment Systems' network.

"Bringing the companies together will dramatically enhance our distribution and technology capabilities to serve a number of large and growing industry verticals," Vantiv CEO Charles Drucker said.

Vantiv expects the deal to close during the current quarter. It says the acquisition will add to its adjusted profit in 2014 and will raise its annual revenue growth by 1 to 2 percent per year.

Mercury Payment Systems is owned by the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and is based in Durango, Colorado. It had $237 million in revenue in 2013 and processed $34 billion in payments. In March, it filed for a $100 million initial public stock offering but it said Monday that it now plans to withdraw its IPO filing.

Vantiv's shares ended the regular trading session up 90 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $29.82 before the deal was announced. They were unchanged in after-hours trading.