Merchant acquirer Global Payments has agreed to buy issuer processor firm Total System Services (TSYS) in a $21.5 billion deal, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The two companies confirmed the deal today (May 28) in what will be the payment industry’s third “mega-merger” of 2019. The all-stock deal values TSYS at $119.86 per share, a rise of 20% since before news of the talks started to emerge.

Global Payments shareholders will own 52% of the combined company, while TSYS investors own 48%. TSYS CEO Troy Woods will become the chairman.

The combined entity will provide payment technology and software to more than 3.5 million small to medium-sized merchants and over 1,300 financial institutions worldwide.

It is expected that the deal, anticipated to close in the fourth quarter, will generate around $8.6 billion in adjusted net revenue annually plus network fees and make cost savings of $300 million.

The deal follows Fiserv’s $22 billion takeover of First Data and FIS’s acquisition of Worldpay for $34 billion earlier this year.

TSYS was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. The company demonstrated its Authorization Controls solution at FinovateAsia 2013, showing how the technology enabled users to set their own default account parameters and authorization rules.