News

Visa Inc. acquisition of Visa Europe a done deal

June 30, 2016

Visa Inc. has closed on its acquisition of Visa Europe Ltd. after some tweaking of terms that might have delayed the transaction until the third quarter, according to an April report by Finextra.

Last November the two companies agreed to a deal that proposed upfront consideration of 16.5 billion euros ($18.35 billion) with the potential for an additional earn-out of up to 4.7 billion ($5.23 billion) euros payable following the fourth anniversary of closing, for a total value of up to 21.2 billion euros ($23.58 billion).

To accommodate concerns of the European Commission, the deal was adjusted so that, according to a Visa statement, "Instead of an earn-out, the cash consideration payable in the transaction will be increased by 1.75 billion euros ($1.95 billion) — 750 million euros ($834 million) payable upon closing, and 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion), plus 4 percent compound annual interest, payable on the third anniversary of closing."

The combined global company provides digital payment products, services and processing to approximately 17,100 financial institution clients and partners, 40 million merchant outlets, and 3 billion Visa cards worldwide. Visa-branded cards and payment products account for approximately $6.8 trillion in global payments volume annually, the company said.