JPMorgan, Greek fintech, claims success in court in London By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – 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’ WEREALIZE.COM (WRL), the majority owner of Athens-based Viva Wallet, accused JP Morgan of trying to hinder the payment platform’s growth and both parties sued each other in London.

But a London judge rejected suggestions that JP Morgan had any incentive to depress Viva’s value and ruled on how the business should be valued, a ruling published on Thursday showed.

The US bank bought a 48.5% stake in Viva Wallet, used by southern European businesses, for around $800 million in 2022. WRL owns 51.49%.

Under the terms of the deal, WRL loses the right to reject any offer from JP Morgan to take control of Viva if the business is worth less than €5 billion ($5.4 billion) by July 30, 2025 .

“As the founder of this company, I am thrilled that Viva will now be properly valued based on its growth strategy in the United States, reflecting its fair market value,” Karonis said in a statement.

JP Morgan said it would continue to engage in the development and expansion of Viva in partnership with WRL, adding that the ruling was a “great achievement”.

“With a financial stake in the company, we have repeatedly offered ways to help it expand and succeed. The court has now provided a key step in moving forward with fair and transparent valuations, which could allow Viva to be sold soon, before The fintech mergers and acquisitions market weakens further,” a JP Morgan spokesperson said.

($1 = 0.9315 euros)

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