Visa Buys Europe Unit Back For USD233 Billion

On Monday, world’s biggest payments network Visa announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase Visa Europe Ltd, its former unit, for 21.2 billion euros or USD23.3 billion. The New York Times said the buyback appears to be strategic, as it sets its eyes on expanding its international reach and compete aggressively against main competitors Mastercard. Mastercard purportedly has integrated its operations in Europe. 

“We are very excited about unifying Visa into a single global company with unmatched scale, technology and services. This transaction is beneficial for financial institutions, acquirers, merchants, cardholders and other partners, as well as for our employees and shareholders,” Charles W. Scharf, the chief executive officer of Visa, said in a statement.

According to the agreement, Visa will be putting an upfront payment of 11.5 billion euros in cash and the company’s preferred stock. The preferred stock is reportedly convertible into Visa Inc’s class A common stock, which is valued at 5 billion euros. To offset the effect of the preferred stock issuance, Visa will issue USD15-16 billion worth of unsecured debt and increase a stock buyback program by USD5 million for class A common stock by next year and the year to follow.