April 6, 2020
Willkie partner Bob Rachofsky was named one of The American Lawyer’s “2020 Dealmakers of the Year” for his role advising Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS) in its $42 billion acquisition of Worldpay, the largest fintech deal ever.
The publication highlights Mr. Rachofsky’s central role in guiding global fintech leader FIS through its fast-moving acquisition of ecommerce and payment technology company Worldpay, which was announced in March 2019 and closed three months later.
Mr. Rachofsky, who has represented FIS since 2004, ensured he and the Willkie team kept to the accelerated timeline required to get the industry-changing deal done, including negotiating the merger agreement, an $8 billion bridge commitment and all relevant due diligence in under ten days, a task that required coordination of multidisciplinary legal teams across several borders. He also led the team through other challenging closing conditions and complex regulatory hurdles on an expedited schedule, closing much earlier than planned.
Mr. Rachofsky is an M&A partner who has led industry-changing deals for FIS for over 15 years, including its $9.1 billion acquisition of SunGard in 2015, and $850 million sale of its Public Sector and Education businesses to Vista Equity Partners in 2017. The $42 billion FIS/Worldpay combination was the sixth largest M&A deal in 2019, according to The Deal.
