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It’s over between Visa and PlaidINTL

It’s over between Visa and Plaid

Visa (V) got their hopes of acquiring Plaid shot down by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), who claimed their deal to buy FinTech platform Plaid would be riddled with antitrust issues.

The USD 5.3b transaction was first announced in January last year, but it since faced a suit filed by the DOJ to stop it from taking place. The DOJ said the deal would “eliminate a nascent competitive threat that would likely result in substantial savings and more innovative online debit services for merchants and consumers.”

And while Visa put up a good fight, it has finally called off the arrangement to take over the data-focused FinTech startup. Its shares were quite stable following the news.

why it matters
If you are wondering how Plaid is dealing with the breakup news, they're probably hurting less than Visa. According to Plaid, it has experienced an “unprecedented uptick” in demand for its services last year, which is no surprise considering the boom in the FinTech industry in 2020. Who knows – maybe Plaid will consider another acquisition deal in the future for an even larger dowry.