Visa’s proposal to buy Earthport — which already survived a brief bidding war with Mastercard — is getting a closer look by the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog group.
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday said it’s investigating whether Visa’s $320 million purchase of Earthport, a U.K.-based cross-border payments provider, would lessen local market competition.
Visa Inc. credit cards are arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Visa is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings figures on October 25. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The CMA set a deadline of April 18 to gather comments from industry participants, aiming to wrap up this phase of its inquiry by June 4, 2019. Typically if competitive concerns emerge in the exploratory phase, a full investigation would follow.
Last month Mastercard dropped out of the Earthport bidding war and announced plans to instead purchase Transfast, a New York-based cross-border payments specialist.
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