LONDON : Wall Street bank JP Morgan and Greek fintech boss Haris Karonis both claimed success on Thursday in a London court battle over how to value a joint business, paving the way for its potential sale.
Karonis’s WEREALIZE.COM (WRL), the majority owner of Athens-based Viva Wallet, has accused JP Morgan of trying to hamper the growth of the payments platform and both sides sued each other in London.
But a London judge dismissed suggestions that JP Morgan had any incentive to depress Viva’s value and set out how the business should be valued, a judgment published on Thursday showed.
The U.S. bank bought a 48.5 per cent stake in Viva Wallet, which is used by businesses in southern Europe, for about $800 million in 2022. WRL owns 51.49 per cent.
Under the terms of the deal, WRL loses its right to reject any JP Morgan offer to take control of Viva if the business is valued at below 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) by July 30, 2025.
“As the founder of this business, I am thrilled that Viva will now be properly valued on the basis of its growth strategy in the U.S., reflecting its fair market value,” Karonis said in a statement.
JP Morgan said it remained committed to developing and expanding Viva in partnership with WRL, adding that the judgment was a “great outcome”.
“With a financial stake in the company, we have repeatedly offered ways to help the company expand and succeed. The court has now provided a critical step to move forward with fair and transparent valuations – which could allow Viva to be sold soon, before the Fintech M&A market further softens,” a JP Morgan spokesperson said.
($1 = 0.9315 euros)
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