**[UK Regulator Approves Global Payments' $24 Billion Acquisition of Worldpay in Phase One]** According to a report by Golden Finance, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved Global Payments Inc.'s plan to acquire Worldpay. The Phase One review decision, announced on Monday, confirmed that the CMA "has approved the proposed acquisition" and determined that the merger does not raise competition concerns requiring further investigation. The deal was announced in April this year and involves a three-way exchange between Global Payments, Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), and private equity firm GTCR. Under the plan, Atlanta-based Global Payments will acquire Worldpay for $24.25 billion (net of tax assets, the amount is $22.7 billion) while selling its card issuing solutions division (TSYS) to FIS for $13.5 billion. According to company documents, upon completion of the transaction, the combined merchant acquiring division will process over 94 billion transactions annually across 175 countries and regions, with a total transaction value of approximately $3.7 trillion.