Yesterday, Visa Inc. abandoned its effort to acquire Plaid Inc., in the wake of a suit brought by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice in November 2020. The government alleged the acquisition would violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by unlawfully maintaining Visa’s monopoly power in the market for online debit transactions such as those used in e-commerce purchases, and Section 7 of the Clayton Act by having an effect “that may be substantially to lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly” in that market.

Coherent Economics, led by Coherent Founder and Chairman Alan Frankel, assisted the Antitrust Division in its investigation and litigation. Coherent’s team included Alan Frankel, Chip Hunter, Megan Hart, Alex Barnett, Jack Kurila, and others, as well as Professor Ralph Winter of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.