JP Morgan and WeRealize settle Viva Wallet lawsuit
The High Court in London has delivered its final ruling on a legal dispute between JP Morgan and WeRealize regarding their shared ownership of Greek fintech firm Viva Wallet.
Viva Wallet shareholders reach court settlement
The lawsuit was first instigated back in February of this year, when Viva chief Haris Karonis accused the Wall Street firm of attempting to dampen the fintech’s value and limit its growth into new markets.
JP Morgan quipped back that WeRealize was infringing its pre-agreed rights as a shareholder of Viva Wallet, in which it first acquired a 48.5% stake in December 2022. According to a Banking Dive report of the time, the acquisition was accompanied by a stipulation that the bank would be allowed to take full control of the fintech if its valuation drops below €5 billion by June 2025.
Presiding over court proceedings, judge Clare Moulder has now delivered her verdict on the case, which accepts both parties’ arguments and proactively sets out specific measures that seek to ensure the accurate valuation and growth of Viva Wallet.
“A great outcome”
Commenting on the ruling, Karonis says: “The Viva team welcomes today’s court ruling, which paves the way for a proper valuation of Viva. The ruling holds that Viva should be valued according to its full market potential, which includes its lucrative US expansion plans.”
“As CEO, I invite both shareholders to proceed with the valuation process that they agreed, which is one that reflects Viva’s actual and future value,” his statement continues.
“The valuation will now take into account Viva’s actual market position and a true set of financial projections, for both Europe and the US, extending to at least 2030, and properly capturing the company’s full growth potential in those markets, and to leave any disputes and litigations behind.”
In a statement, JP Morgan points out that as Viva’s shareholder it has “repeatedly offered ways to help the company expand and succeed”.
The bank describes the ruling as “a great outcome” that has provided “a critical step to move forward with fair and transparent valuations – which could allow Viva to be sold soon”.
“The judge also confirmed that Viva is subject to US legal restrictions, a point we’ve been making to Viva’s management team from the start, and rejected outright any suggestion that JP Morgan was trying to depress Viva’s value and prevent it from growing,” the bank continues.
“It has always been our intent to support Viva’s development, in the US or elsewhere, subject to the necessary regulatory framework.”
