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Global Payments Completes ZAO United Card Service Acquisition

Posted on: Thursday, 30 April 2009, 08:00 CDT

ATLANTA, April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading provider of electronic transaction processing solutions, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of ZAO United Card Service ("UCS") in a stock purchase transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, Global Payments will pay a total of $75 million in cash to acquire UCS.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010221/ATW031LOGO )

Global Payments' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Paul R. Garcia said, "Russia continues to be one of the world's fastest growing payments markets. UCS provides us with a direct merchant acquiring platform for long-term growth in Russia and a foundation for other direct acquiring opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe."

With almost 40 years of industry experience, UCS is a leading merchant acquirer in the Russian Federation. In December 2007, UCS entered into a ten-year marketing alliance agreement with Rosbank, a leading financial institution in the Russian Federation. Under this agreement, Rosbank provides UCS with Visa and MasterCard bank sponsorship and agent bank processing referrals. In addition, UCS has agent bank processing referral agreements with over 40 other financial institutions in the Russian Federation. UCS also provides payment processing services to over 70 financial institutions and over 2,500 ATMs.

Based on current Russian Rouble exchange rates, the company anticipates UCS will add approximately $2.5 million in revenues for the month of May 2009 and will be neutral to diluted earnings per share in fiscal years ending May 31, 2009 and 2010.

The shares of UCS that Global purchased are pledged as collateral in connection with a loan agreement entered into by Rosbank in 2004. Rosbank is scheduled to pay off the loan in September 2009, after which the UCS shares will no longer be collateralized. A portion of the purchase price sufficient to cover the remaining payments under the Rosbank loan will be held in cash escrow.

For additional details on the UCS acquisition and related Russian Federation payments market, please go to the Investor Relations page located on our Web site at www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing services for consumers, merchants, Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), financial institutions, government agencies and multi-national corporations located throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic check conversion and check guarantee, verification and recovery including electronic check services, as well as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transfer services from the United States and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco, and the Philippines. For more information about the company and its services, visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including revenue and earnings estimates and management's expectations regarding future events and developments, are forward looking statements and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements include the following: foreign currency exchange risks and their effect on the anticipated earnings from UCS, as well as on our ability to pay the Rosbank loan payment from the purchase price escrow; the effect of economic conditions in Russia on the performance of UCS, including declines in consumer spending by credit and debit card; and other risks detailed in the company's SEC filings, including the most recently filed Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, as applicable. The company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Global Payments Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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