Visa Europe Pulls Back on Monitise Investment (July 8, 2015)
Two days after revising its earnings expectations for the year, London-based financial technology firm Monitise plc told investors today that Visa Europe plans to withdraw its remaining investment in the company. Visa Europe notified Monitise that the payments network “over time” will reduce the remaining shares it owns, which account for 5.3 percent of Monitise’s total share capital. Monitise and Visa Europe formed a strategic partnership in 2011 and will continue to work together on a number of projects and services under a three-year agreement that continues through March 31, 2016, Monitise said.
Monitise shares slid about 18 percent today on the London Stock Exchange following the news, though observers said Visa Europe has been planning this move since September 2014, when Monitise briefly explored putting itself on the block. Monitise, launched in 2003, in recent years has struggled to deliver on profits, but recently made key changes. The company in March announced strategic cuts to reduce costs during the second half of this year and in April converted to a cloud-based API platform. Monitise last month announced a joint venture with Spanish banking giant Santander, with each company pledging £10 million (US$15.6 million) to drive development of fintech startups to harvest new ideas and technology, building on a joint venture announced last year with IBM.
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