JPMorgan plans to withdraw its €900m lawsuit against Greek fintech Viva Wallet in the UK — but will continue pursuing legal action in the startup’s home country.
The financial services giant acquired a 48.5% stake in Viva Wallet, one of Greece’s biggest fintech companies, in 2022. The rest of the business was controlled by Viva founder and CEO Haris Karonis, via his holding company WRL. Within a couple of years, however, the deal had fallen apart — with both companies filing lawsuits against one another.
In January, JPM launched suits in Greece and the UK, demanding €917m in damages for losses made on its 2022 investment.
According to legal filings seen by Sifted, however, JPM now plans to discontinue its claim in the UK — but intends to continue pursuing the matter in Greece. A JPM spokesperson told Sifted: “We have not withdrawn our damages claim for €917m filed in Greece and we do not have any intention to.”
The bitter fallout has revolved primarily around a clause included in the original deal, which said JPM would have the right to take over the business if it was valued below €5bn by the end of July 2025. CEO Karonis accused JPM of trying to undermine Viva’s valuation to make that happen.
In a statement shared with Sifted, WRL accused JPM of attempting to “use its size and power to drive down the value of Viva and bury WRL […] in unnecessary legal fees”.
The company added: “We welcome JPMorgan’s intention to completely and absolutely discontinue its entire January claim against WRL in the English Court.”
The tense relationship between Viva and JPM spotlights the banking industry’s tenuous relationship with fintech. Stuart Roberts, the JPM executive previously charged with overseeing its dealings with Viva, quit the company in February.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/viva-wallet-jp-morgan-greek-fintech-lawsuit/
