Visa Abandons $5.3B Acquisition of Plaid
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced today that Visa Inc. and Plaid Inc. have abandoned their planned $5.3 billion merger.
The department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on Nov. 5, 2020, to stop the merger, alleging that Visa is a monopolist in online debit, charging consumers and merchants billions of dollars in fees each year to process online payments. Plaid, a successful fintech firm, is developing a payments platform that would challenge Visa’s monopoly.
According to the complaint, the transaction would have enabled Visa to eliminate this competitive threat to its online debit business before Plaid had a chance to succeed, thereby enhancing or maintaining its monopoly.
The case was scheduled for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 28, 2021. As a result of Visa and Plaid’s decision to terminate their merger agreement, the United States has filed a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal.
