Multinational financial services operator Visa Inc. (V) and financial software company Plaid have called off an earlier merger agreement deal worth $5.3 billion.
The companies said a U.S government lawsuit intending to halt the merger deal citing antitrust issues is the main reason for termination of the deal.
Back in November, U.S Justice Department made a court filing to stop the deal arguing that Visa is monopolistic in online debit transactions and allowing the deal sail through would eliminate a nascent competitive threat to that monopoly.
Matters on proposal of the deal were first brought into limelight in January 2020. Visa was looking into the deal to help it boost its access and influence into the thriving financial technology sector.
The chairman of Visa Al Kelly, said termination of the deal was reached upon to avoid a very much possible litigation.
“We are confident we would have prevailed in court as Plaid’s capabilities are complementary to Visa’s, not competitive,” added Kelly.
