
JP Morgan Takes 48.5% Ownership in Payments Fintech Viva Wallet for $800M
JP Morgan has acquired a 48.5% stake in Greece-based payments fintech startup Viva Wallet for $800mn. Viva‘s majority shareholders Haris Karonis and Makis Antypas maintain the majority stake of 51.5% and will continue to oversee the company’s operations.
JP Morgan will buy the stake from Viva Wallet’s minority shareholders, including 13% from Latsis family office, 24% from UK-based fund Hedosophia and 10% from Deca Investments.
As part of the transaction, JP Morgan is also converting Viva’s convertible loan note, which effectively eliminates its debt.
In January, JP Morgan announced the deal to buy Viva Wallet without disclosing the financial value of the transaction.
The cloud-based payments company, which focuses on serving small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operates in 23 countries across Europe, provides card acceptance services through its point-of-sale (POS) application, add-on Google play devices and advanced payment systems in online stores.
JP Morgan’s Payments business recently unveiled its brand for SMB payments, Chase Payment Solutions, in the US and the investment in Viva Wallet sets the stage to develop future international products and services across European SMBs.
