Billion dollar merger, Columbus plant closing and other news you might have missed
Missed the big stories last week? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
TSYS to merge with Atlanta’s Global Payments
Columbus-based TSYS will merge with Global Payments in a deal valued at nearly $21.5 billion.
The deal, announced last week, was all stock and billed as a “merger of equals” by TSYS officials.
The new company will be called Global Payments. Shareholders of the current Global Payments company will own 52% of the new company. The new company will have dual headquarters in Atlanta and Columbus.
TSYS stockholders will receive 0.8101 Global Payments shares for each share of TSYS common stock. The exchange sets TSYS stock at a per-price share value of $119.86, an approximately 20% premium to TSYS’ unaffected common share price as of the close of business on May 23 representing an equity value of $21.5 billion for TSYS, according to TSYS officials.
The TSYS brand is expected to remain in Columbus, including on the outside of its Columbus buildings, said TSYS President and CEO Troy Woods last week.
Gildan to close Columbus plant
Gildan Yarns, a division of the Montreal-based corporation Gildan, will shutter a yarn-spinning facility at 3313 Fourth Avenue near the end of July.
A federally-required layoff/closure notice that Gildan filed with the Georgia Department of Labor last week stated that an estimated 97 employees would be affected. The plant is set to close July 28.
The Fourth Avenue site produced yarn for athletic socks sold under the Gildan family of brands. Demand for those socks has decreased, said Garry Bell, a Gildan spokesperson.
“We’ve looked at a lot of options and what we could do with the facility,” Bell told The Ledger-Enquirer last week. “There was no path forward.”
The company owns two Columbus yarn-spinning facilities — another in Georgia and four in North Carolina.
Netflix will rethink shooting in Georgia if abortion law takes effect
Streaming and entertainment giant Netflix said last week it will work to contest Georgia’s abortion law and would reconsider investing in the state if the law took effect.
“We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law,” said Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos in a statement first published by Variety.
“Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we’ll continue to film there, while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to. Should it ever come into effect, we’d rethink our entire investment in Georgia.”
Many major studios have remained quiet on Georgia’s abortion law, the Associated Press reports. The bill would ban abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected which is around six weeks. There are exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Three Georgia teams play in NCAA D-1 baseball tournament
Three Georgia universities made it to the NCAA D-1 baseball tournament, and all of them were eliminated.
The Mercer Bears, Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were all bounced from the tournament this weekend.
The Bears were winless in the Athens Regional with losses to Georgia (13-3) and Florida Atlantic (10-6).
The Bulldogs lost twice to Florida State — 12-3 in the first matchup and 10-1 in the final elimination game of the Athens Regional. Georgia did, however, post wins over Mercer and Florida Atlantic.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lost twice to Auburn — 6-5 in the first matchup and 4-1 in the final elimination game in the Atlanta Regional.
This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 10:29 AM.