The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against the merger back in November. It alleged that Visa’s reason for acquiring Plaid was to take a future competitor out of the market.
Now all parties have all agreed to a termination of the deal to dismiss the US government’s litigation.
Company responses
Visa’s chairman and CEO Al Kelly claims the deal was “not competitive” and that it would have upheld in court.
He adds that “protracted and complex litigation will likely take substantial time to fully resolve”, shedding some light on why the card giant decided against completing the acquisition.