Visa to buy Swedish fintech Tink for $2.2 billion (updated)
24/06/2021 08:54
(Adds context, further details)
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Visa Inc V.N said on Thursday
it had agreed a 1.8 billion euro ($2.2 billion) takeover of
European open banking platform Tink, months after it ditched a
planned acquisition of the startup's U.S. rival Plaid.
Founded in 2012, Sweden-based Tink enables banks and other
financial firms to access consumer financial data more easily.
It is used by more than 3,400 banks and other institutions, as
well as over 250 million customers across Europe.
Visa was forced to terminate a planned $5.3 billion deal
with U.S. data-sharing platform Plaid in January, following a
U.S. government lawsuit aimed at blocking the deal on antitrust
grounds. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JN3UB
Visa said the Tink deal was subject to regulatory approvals.
European Union rules on open banking, also adopted by
Britain before it left the bloc, require banks to allow access
to customer data by registered third party providers to boost
competition.
The rollout of the rules has provided fertile ground for
fintechs, such as Tink, which provide technology to help third
parties and banks to access customer data.
Visa would retain Tink's brand and management team, and its
headquarters would stay in Stockholm, the company said.
The Tink takeover included cash and retention incentives,
Visa said, adding the deal would have no impact on its
previously announced stock buyback or dividend policy.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Iain Withers in
London; Editing by Edmund Blair and Barbara Lewis)
((Kanishka.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8061822801;))