Visa IPO May Be Largest in U.S. History

[February 25, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Visa said Monday it expects to raise almost $19 billion from an initial public offering, which would easily become the largest IPO in U.S. history.

San Francisco-based Visa Inc. said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing it will to offer 406.6 million shares at $37 to $42 per share. There will be an option for its underwriters to buy an extra 40.6 million shares to cover any excess demand.

The filing also showed rival credit card companies MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. trailing Visa in transactions in 2006.

At $18.76 billion, the Visa IPO of up to 447.2 million Class A shares would surpass the $10.6 billion AT&T Wireless offering in 2000. It would be almost as big as the two largest past deals combined -- AT&T's offering and Kraft Foods' $8.7 billion offer in 2001.

Visa would follow Mastercard into the public sector, which raised $2.39 billion in an IPO nearly two years ago.

[Associated Press]

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