Visa IPO Info and News Thread

[hitnrun99]

I thought that maybe we should keep all Visa IPO related stuff in one thread so here goes.

[Barttt]

Has anyone heard anything new about when this IPO is going to happen? The last I heard was sometime between october 07 and april 08. I cant wait, should be a nice stock to buy and sit on for a while. Its not like Visa is going out of business anytime soon.

[PENYSTOKMILIONAIR]

Visa IPO will be big

[kinglin]

Any idea when this IPO is going to hit the market?

[PENYSTOKMILIONAIR]

Visa made its first steps towards an initial public offering on Friday.

The San Francisco credit card company offered detailed plans on how it will restructure the business, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company plans to combine several subsidiaries, including Visa Canada, Visa International and Visa USA, into a single private stock company called Visa Inc. Visa Europe will remain a membership association.
"Once the SEC has completed its review and declared the registration statement effective, Visa will undertake a global process to secure member approval of the restructuring," the company said in a press release.
Visa's plans for an IPO come at a time when interest in credit card companies has been high. Shares of MasterCard (MA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Visa's rival, have quadrupled since May 2006, when the Purchase, N.Y., company came public at $39 a share.

[woswill]

visa is more widely used that mastercard right? imo i think it is

i think ill have to get in on this

[Leebert]

I personally use Visa over mastercard but thats just who my bank is associated with. I used to have both but i found visa gave me more perks to what i needed

[Barttt]

wasnt Discover going to be having an IPO soon too? That would be an excellent play too seeing as how they have 48 billion in outstanding loans for them the last time I heard. These credit card companies are great ideas, they make a lot of money, I cant believe how fast Mastercards stock is flying so high. Looks to be waay overvalued though.

[hitnrun99]

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/...1-ArticlePage1


Visa Details Restructuring, Results Ahead of IPO
Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:02 PM BST137

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa, the world's largest credit card network, unveiled details of a planned restructuring on Friday as it prepares by early next year to follow smaller rival MasterCard Inc. (MA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) in becoming a public company.

San Francisco-based Visa also disclosed financial results for the publicly traded entity to be known as Visa Inc., which will combine Visa USA, Visa International and Visa Canada. The disclosures were in a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Visa first outlined plans last October to float a majority of the company, now owned by its member banks, in an initial public offering to be held within 12 to 18 months. Its Visa Europe affiliate will remain a membership association and take a minority stake in Visa Inc.

The company intends to use IPO proceeds to fund expansion and an escrow account to help cover potentially hefty legal bills.

Merchants such as Kroger Co. (KR.N: Quote, Profile , Research), Safeway Inc. (SWY.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Walgreen Co. (WAG.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have accused the card networks of price fixing. Morgan Stanley's (MS.N: Quote, Profile , Research) Discover card unit and American Express Co. (AXP.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have also filed antitrust lawsuits against Visa and MasterCard.

According to the SEC filing, Visa Inc. posted net income of $525.9 million, or 68 cents per share, on operating revenue of $2.36 billion for the six months ended March 31. Visa USA accounted for more than two-thirds of that combined entity's profit and revenue.

Over the same period, MasterCard reported a profit of $255.8 million on net revenue of $1.75 billion. Its shares have more than quadrupled since that company raised $2.4 billion in a May 2006 IPO.

Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders said in a letter to member banks that the restructuring should help Visa compete more effectively, streamline decision-making and better coordinate worldwide operations.

The SEC filing also shows that Visa USA members will assume responsibility for a variety of litigation, including the merchant antitrust lawsuits. Visa USA recently had some 13,320 member banks that have issued more than 521 million cards.

Saunders was installed as chief executive last month. He had previously been president of card services at Washington Mutual Inc. (WM.N: Quote, Profile , Research), the largest U.S. thrift.

Visa's roots date to 1958 when a Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) predecessor created the blue, white and gold BankAmericard, helping pave the way for the modern credit card business. That card has evolved into Visa.

Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, plans to spin off Discover at the end of the month. Discover Financial Services will join the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index <.SPX>.

(Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore)

*************************************************

The bolded parts should indicate any resistance Visa faces when they go public.

[hitnrun99]

Here's another article:

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...G-UPDATE-3.XML

UPDATE 3-Visa details restructuring, results ahead of IPO
Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:17pm ET16

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - Visa, the world's largest credit card network, unveiled details of a planned restructuring on Friday as it prepares by early next year to follow smaller rival MasterCard Inc. (MA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) in becoming a public company.

San Francisco-based Visa also disclosed financial results for the publicly traded entity to be known as Visa Inc., which will combine Visa USA, Visa International and Visa Canada. The disclosures were in a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Visa first outlined plans last October to float a majority of the company, now owned by its member banks, in an initial public offering to be held within 12 to 18 months. Its Visa Europe affiliate will remain a membership association and take a minority stake in Visa Inc.

The company intends to use IPO proceeds to fund expansion and an escrow account to help cover potentially hefty legal bills.

Merchants such as Kroger Co. (KR.N: Quote, Profile , Research), Safeway Inc. (SWY.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Walgreen Co. (WAG.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have accused the card networks of price fixing. Morgan Stanley's (MS.N: Quote, Profile , Research) Discover card unit and American Express Co. (AXP.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have also filed antitrust lawsuits against Visa and MasterCard.

According to the SEC filing, Visa Inc. posted net income of $525.9 million, or 68 cents per share, on operating revenue of $2.36 billion for the six months ended March 31. Visa USA accounted for more than two-thirds of that combined entity's profit and revenue.

Over the same period, MasterCard reported a profit of $255.8 million on net revenue of $1.75 billion. Its shares have more than quadrupled since that company raised $2.4 billion in a May 2006 IPO.

Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders said in a letter to member banks that the restructuring should help Visa compete more effectively, streamline decision-making and better coordinate worldwide operations.

The SEC filing also shows that Visa USA members will assume responsibility for a variety of litigation, including the merchant antitrust lawsuits. Visa USA recently had some 13,320 member banks that have issued more than 521 million cards.

Saunders was installed as chief executive last month. He had previously been president of card services at Washington Mutual Inc. (WM.N: Quote, Profile , Research), the largest U.S. thrift.

Visa's roots date to 1958 when a Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) predecessor created the blue, white and gold BankAmericard, helping pave the way for the modern credit card business. That card has evolved into Visa.

Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, plans to spin off Discover at the end of the month. Discover Financial Services will join the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index <.SPX>. (Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore)