Silver, gold, platinum—if there were a precious metal-themed hierarchy of big deals, this week’s Visa tie-up just might reign supreme.
On Monday, Visa Inc., operator of the world’s largest consumer payment system, announced that it had agreed to reacquire its former unit Visa Europe Ltd. for up to $23.3 billion. Expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, the deal follows a split of the two parties prior to Visa’s $18 billion initial public offering in 2008. Visa rival MasterCard Inc. currently owns its European business.
