Stock Market

The world’s largest processor of credit and debit cards sold 406 million shares at $44 apiece to easily eclipse the previous U.S. record IPO of $10.6 billion set by AT&T (NYSE:SBT) (NYSE:T) Wireless eight years ago.

The IPO price topped the range of $37 to $42 per share that Visa set three weeks ago just before its executives began meeting with institutional investors and analysts to drum up interest.

If investment bankers exercise an option on another 40.6 million shares, Visa’s IPO will end up raising $19.7 billion before expenses.

Visa shares, trading on under the ‘V’ ticker symbol, are scheduled to begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The San Francisco-based company will debut with a market value of about $36 billion.

(Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex)