British banks are set to pocket well over a billion pounds in cash after the UK-based Visa Europe agreed to be taken over by its American sister organisation Visa Inc for up to €21.2 billion.
Barclays said that it was booking an initial profit of £400 million on the deal, which reunites the European division of the plastic card network with the US body responsible for operations in the rest of the world.
Lloyds Banking Group said that it would make an initial profit of £300 million, while Royal Bank of Scotland posted a £200 million gain on the deal. HSBC is also expected to make a non-material gain.
Precise shareholdings in the network are not disclosed, but Barclays is thought to be one of