Visa ends its $5.3 billion bid for fintech Plaid

Visa and Plaid said Tuesday that they have ended plans for the payments giant to buy the San Francisco fintech for $5.3 billion after the Justice Department sued to block the deal.

The Justice Department argued in the November lawsuit that Plaid was a nascent rival to Visa and that acquiring the fintech would allow Visa to maintain a monopoly in the online debit-card market. The companies had announced their plans to combine on Jan. 13, 2020.

“We are confident we would have prevailed in court as Plaid’s capabilities are complementary to Visa’s, not competitive,” Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly said in a statement Tuesday. “We believe the combination of Visa with Plaid would have delivered significant benefits, including greater innovation for developers, financial institutions and consumers.

“However it has been a full year since we first announced our intent to acquire Plaid, and protracted and complex litigation will likely take substantial time to fully resolve,” said Kelly, who added that Visa (NYSE: V) will continue working with Plaid as an investor and partner.

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Source: Visa ends its $5.3 billion bid for fintech Plaid – San Francisco Business Times