US banking giant JP Morgan and the majority owner of Greek payments firm Viva Wallet are battling each other at an English court this week over the valuation of its joint venture.
JP Morgan acquired a 48.5 per cent stake in the Athens-based payments fintech Viva Wallet, known as WeRealize.com, in 2022 for $800m (£637.2m). The unicorn fintech was valued at more than $2bn (£1.5b) at the time of the deal.
Speaking at the time of the deal, the bank’s global payments Takis Georgakopoulos described it as a strategic investment to support the bank’s vision of new growth and payments innovation targeted at European small and midsize businesses.
However, earlier this year the US banking giant issued legal action against the fintech in the English High Court, and within days, the fintech firm filed a lawsuit back against the bank.
The core dispute concerns the interpretation of a call option process under a shareholders’ agreement, which gives JP Morgan the right to buy fintech shareholding in Viva. Trade publication Banking Dive reported that under the terms of the acquisition, the US bank is allowed to take full control if the fintech’s valuation drops below €5bn (£4.3bn) by June 2025.
The parties also have several other disagreements, such as the correct approach to valuation, including the relevance of certain US banking regulations (known as Regulation K).
As the dispute is time-critical, it was rushed in for an expedited trial just shy of three months after the claims were launched.
The parties started at the Commercial Court on Monday in front of Dame Clare Moulder, and the trial is expected to last up to Thursday.
JP Morgan called on partners Christopher Robinson and Thomas Clark of magic circle firm Freshfields. The partners instructed a team of barristers from Fountain Court Chambers, Richard Handyside KC, Rosalind Phelps KC, Rupert Allen, Christopher Langley and Gillian Hughes.
However, the Greek fintech has called on Quinn Emanuel’s senior partner in its London office, Richard East. He has instructed a range of barristers including Richard Lissack KC and Charles Redmond (of Fountain Court Chambers), Robert Weekes KC and Timothy Lau (of Blackstone Chambers) and Andrew Thornton KC and Ben Griffiths (of Erskine Chambers.
Both parties were approached for a comment.