The CEO of Greek neobank Viva Wallet has filed an injunction against JPMorgan in an attempt to block the banking giant from pursuing any further lawsuits or takeover attempts.
In 2022, JPM acquired a 48.5% stake in Viva Wallet, one of Greece’s biggest fintech companies. WRL, a company owned by Viva founder and CEO Haris Karonis, held the remaining stake. At the time, the acquisition was celebrated as a triumph for Greece’s fledgling tech ecosystem, valuing Viva Wallet at more than $2bn.
But within a couple of years, the partnership had fallen apart — with both parties filing lawsuits against one another in 2024. In another suit filed in January this year, JP Morgan demanded €916m in damages for losses made on its 2022 investment.
The latest injunction, filed by Karonis’ lawyers in the UK, accuses JPM of harassing WRL leadership and describes its damages claim as “objectively vexatious, oppressive and unconscionable”.
“It is regrettable that ever since becoming a minority shareholder in Viva, JPMorgan has acted like a fox in a henhouse rather than seeking to prioritise Viva’s growth and success,” Karonis told Sifted.
The English Court of Appeal ruled in January 2025 that JPM had only one opportunity — as part of the “one shot” rules — to exercise its call option to acquire the remaining shares in Viva from WRL. JPM sent a letter to WRL the prior January in which it exercised its single call option, according to a document obtained by Sifted.
Greek tragedy
The latest filings, previously unreported, are the latest movements in the legal back and forth between the two. The crux of the conflict focuses on a clause included in the terms of the deal that says WRL would lose its right to reject a JPM takeover offer if the business was valued at below €5bn by July 30, 2025.
Last year, both parties launched legal proceedings against each other. Karonis accused JPM of blocking its growth in the US to depress Viva’s valuation; JPM asserted that WRL had taken business actions without shareholder approval.
The dust briefly appeared to have settled between both JPM and Viva after a June 2024 court ruling stipulated that the latter should be valued in line with its planned US expansion.
But then JPM filed a further two lawsuits in January 2025 — one in Greece against Karonis and three Viva directors which demanded €916m in damages for depriving JPM of the value of its 2022 investment in Viva through “unlawful actions” while the other in the UK targeted WRL, claiming it had breached shareholder agreements.
The US investment bank petitioned the Court of Appeal on 26 February to appeal its decision on the “one shot” issue, arguing that it was unfair as WRL rejected the exercise notice in February 2024 after it was sent the month prior, according to a person familiar with the matter so that it could take the claim to the Supreme Court. This appeal application was rejected a day later, according to a legal filing seen by Sifted.
Not so fintech-friendly
The tense relationship between Viva and JPM spotlights the banking industry’s tenuous relationship with fintech. Stuart Roberts, the executive running JPM’s dealing with Viva in recent months, stepped down earlier this month according to a Linkedin post. He follows the ex-global head of JPM payments and architect of the Viva deal Takis Georgakopoulos, who stepped down in August last year.
JPMorgan is also currently in court over its acquisition of student loan startup Frank in 2021 over allegations of inflation of user numbers and the manufacturing of fake accounts.
A spokesperson for JPM said the company would “fight the injunction” but declined to comment further.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/viva-wallet-jpmorgan-injunction-news/
