Visa Inc About To Acquire Earthport Plc, One of Ripple’s Partners

One of the units of the American financial giant Visa Inc is on its way to acquiring Earthport Plc, a British international payment services provider for banks and businesses, Reuters reports. In 2014, Earthport started cooperation with Ripple, incorporating a cross-border payment protocol into their payment network.

The deal that Visa International Service Association and Earthport are about to conclude, is estimated at £198 mln, with each share valued at 30 pence. It is noteworthy that the announcement was followed by the Earthport shares’ price surge of 346% on the stock exchange. The prices reached the levels of the offer proposed by Visa.

The representatives of London-headquartered company claimed Visa’s proposal was “fair and reasonable.” The board said they would recommend the shareholders to accept the offer of the financial giant. 2018 turned out to be not of great success for Earthport — the company's shares declined by 28% on the London Stock Exchange, and this situation prompted the company to announce the need for a “fundamental” change in the strategy.

For Visa, this deal is of great interest: cross-border or international payments between parties in two or more countries is a considerable growing business. Visa’s representatives spoke about the rising volumes up to 10% in the 2018 fiscal year.

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