UK judge brings end to JPMorgan’s dispute with Greek fintech founder
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A London High Court judge has brought to an end a feud between JPMorgan and the founder of a Greek fintech that the bank part-owns, opening up the possibility of a sale of the business.
The Wall Street bank and Haris Karonis had filed legal claims against each other in February over their shared ownership of Viva Wallet, a popular payments platform used by businesses in Southern Europe.
On Thursday, judge Clare Moulder gave her verdict on the dispute, which accepted parts of both sides’ arguments, setting out how Viva should be valued and its ability to expand in new markets.
The ruling ends the latest legal headache for JPMorgan linked to its strategy in recent years of investing in high-growth fintech companies.
In a statement, JPMorgan said: “The court has now provided a critical step to move forward with fair and transparent valuations — which could allow Viva to be sold soon, before the fintech M&A market further softens.”
Karonis, the founder and chief executive of Viva, whose WRL holding company is the majority owner of the business, said: “I am thrilled that Viva will now be properly valued on the basis of its growth strategy in the US, reflecting its fair market value.”
The case relates to JPMorgan’s €800mn investment in Viva two years ago, which gave it a 48.5 per cent stake in the business. Under the terms of the deal, if Viva was valued at below €5bn by June 2025, JPMorgan could take control of it.
Lawyers for Karonis argued JPMorgan had been trying to drive down the valuation of Viva by blocking its entry into the US and new European markets, in the suit filed in February.
In a separate claim against Karonis, JPMorgan alleged the entrepreneur had made moves to “limit or circumvent our contractual and legal rights as an investor”.
Since its founding in 2000, Viva has become one of the biggest fintechs in southern Europe, offering payment services in 24 countries. In 2020, it acquired a banking licence after buying Greek digital bank Praxia.
The legal dispute between JPMorgan and Karonis is the latest spat the bank has had with the founder of a business it has invested in, after ploughing billions of dollars into more than 40 fintechs since 2021.
Last year, it sued Charlie Javice, founder of Frank, a student finance platform that the bank had bought for $175mn in 2021, over allegations of vastly inflating its user numbers.
