Chris Baugher

Chris Baugher

Atlanta, GA recognized lawyers icon Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2016
Alston & Bird LLP

266 Best Lawyers awards

Alston & Bird LLP logo

Awarded Practice Areas

Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Biography

Chris Baugher advises on deals involving payment systems participants and the financial technology industry. In particular, Chris regularly represents payment processors, sophisticated merchants and financial institutions in the following matters:

Payment Processors

  • Mergers, acquisitions and dispositions of operating companies, payment technology assets and credit card portfolios.
  • International expansion initiatives, joint ventures and strategic alliances in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

    Merchants

    • Co-branded credit card programs, private label card alliances, payment network agreements and card acceptance agreements.
    • Credit card data security matters and data breach response.

      Financial Institutions

      • Merchant services alliances, card processing arrangements and new payment technology M&A.
      • Payments regulatory matters.

        Chris is dual-qualified as a Georgia attorney and a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. He previously served as the dedicated on-site legal counsel in Dublin, Ireland, for a client that is one of the leading merchant acquirers in Europe. He has also spent a significant amount of time based in Brussels, Belgium, assisting clients in the financial technology industry with cross-border transactions and matters related to credit card network membership and compliance.

        He has been recognized as a member of “Georgia’s Legal Elite” by Georgia Trend magazine and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Alston & Bird LLP

266 Best Lawyers awards

Alston & Bird LLP logo

Overview

  • University of Virginia, J.D., graduated 1998
  • Wake Forest University, BA, graduated 1992

  • Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
  • United Kingdom, England
  • United Kingdom, Wales
  • Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
  • United Kingdom, England
  • United Kingdom, Wales
  • University of Virginia, J.D., graduated 1998
  • Wake Forest University, BA, graduated 1992

Client Testimonials

Awards & Focus

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
  • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Additional Areas of Practice:
  • Commercial Finance Law

Additional Information

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Case History

Transactions
  • United Airlines, Inc. Co-Branded Card Program
Led Alston & Bird’s representation of United Airlines, Inc., in negotiating its co-branded card program with a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., its card acceptance agreement with Chase Paymentech and its incentive agreement with Visa.
  • SunTrust Bank Inc.’s merchant acquiring alliance
Negotiated SunTrust Bank Inc.’s merchant acquiring alliance with First Data Merchant Services, a joint venture that processes more than $29 billion in card volume annually.
  • FleetCor’s $3.4 billion merger with Comdata
Led Alston & Bird’s representation of FleetCor’s $3.4 billion merger with Comdata.
  • Total System Services (TSYS) Sale of Japanese Business Interest to Visa
Represented Total System Services (TSYS) in its sale of its Japanese business interest to Visa.
  • Negotiated the acquisition of numerous strategic merchant contract portfolios
Negotiated the acquisition of numerous strategic merchant contract portfolios in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Poland and Norway, and drafted the related long-term alliance agreements with the selling bank for each acquisition.

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