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First Data Corp. says the dissolution of its Chase Paymentech LLC joint venture with JPMorgan Chase & Co. is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. First Data and Chase began the joint venture in 2005. In First Data's second-quarter earnings report, released last week, the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based transaction processor said the companies have made "significant" progress in allocating merchant contracts and sales staff. New York-based Chase will retain 51% of Chase Paymentech's assets, including most of its employees, its Canadian and European operations, and the company's Dallas-based headquarters, according to the announcement. First Data will assume management of Chase Paymentech's ISO and Agent Bank division and will integrate 49% of the assets, including a portion of the staff, into its established merchant-acquiring business. The two companies, which announced the end of the joint venture in May, have agreed to jointly provide processing and related services to each other's clients during a transitional period following the dissolution. First Data, which did not say how long that period would last, says it could experience a $200 million tax liability when the joint venture ends. It is too soon to discern how much of that could be recovered, Kim Patmore, First Data's outgoing chief financial officer, told analysts during a conference call last week. "We'll know somewhat better in the fourth quarter," Patmore said.
