Visa Takes 10% Stake in Payments Startup Square
February 12 2016 - 9:50AM
Dow Jones News
Visa Inc. has taken a 10% stake in Square Inc., making Visa one
of the mobile-payment startup's biggest shareholders.
Visa disclosed the stake in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
Shares of Square jumped 14% to $9.84 in premarket trading, while
Visa shares rose 1.3% to $69.35.
Visa would become Square's second-largest shareholder behind
mutual-fund giant Capital Research and Management Co., which has a
12% stake in Square, according to FactSet data.
Square, which was founded and run by Twitter Inc. Chief
Executive Jack Dorsey, went public in December at $9 a share, below
its expected range.
The company's stock closed Thursday at $8.62 a share, a 4%
discount to its offering price.
Square got its start with a small piece of plastic that plugs
into smartphones and lets anyone accept payment via credit or debit
cards.
But its stock has been hurt by a weak market for initial public
offerings, and concerns about the sustainability of the company's
growth, on top of global market turmoil.
Visa, meanwhile, has focused more on digital efforts lately as
consumers increasingly migrate to electronic payments.
The company has launched Visa Digital Solutions, an initiative
geared toward secure payments using mobile devices. It also has
supported Apple Inc.'s Apple Pay service.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 12, 2016 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024