(New York) US banking giant Capital One announced Monday that it will acquire financial services company Discover for $35.3 billion, a stock swap transaction that will bring together two of the world’s largest banking companies. United States credit cards.
Acquiring Discover will help “build a payments network that can compete with the largest payment networks and companies,” Richard Fairbank, the founder and CEO of Capital One, said in a statement.
Under the terms of the agreement between the two companies, Discover shareholders will receive 1.0192 shares of Capital One stock for each Discover share, a premium of 26.6% to the February 16 closing price of Discover stock. ($110.49).
Once the transaction closes, in late 2024 or early 2025, Capital One shareholders will own approximately 60% and Discover shareholders approximately 40% of the combined company.
Discover, whose payment methods are accepted by 70 million businesses in more than 200 countries, is the fourth American global credit card network behind the giants Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
The merger constitutes “an essential starting point in Capital One’s quest to build a global payments company,” the group said in its press release.
The acquisition by Capital One “will accelerate growth and maximize value for our shareholders, allowing them to participate in the tremendous growth of the combined company,” said Discover CEO Michael Rhodes.