Visa bought Plaid January in a $5.3bn deal, but now fears about it creating a monopoly situation could make regulators put a stop to the acquisition.
Speaking with sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal has revealed that the Justice Department could soon decide whether it will sue to prevent the deal from going through or not.
The sources said the Justice Department is concerned that Visa’s acquisition of Plaid, which is a developer of infrastructures used by many modern FinTechs.
While no final decision has been made, the regulator on Tuesday publicly signaled its concerns by asking a Massachusetts federal judge to order that Bain & Co., which has done consulting work for Visa, comply with a civil subpoena and hand over work material related to the Plaid deal, at Visa’s direction.
The department accused Bain of having “tried to stymie” the antitrust investigation. It also alleged that legal privilege over important documents, at Visa’s direction, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Despite the Visa deal having been up in the air and the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, Plaid has been expanding this year.
In March, Plaid opened an office in the Netherlands, marking its second overseas office. The US-headquartered company launched its operations in the UK late last year, and is looking to open in more countries across Europe.
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