VeriFone's Hypercom Purchase Breaks Antitrust Law, U.S. Says
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The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in Washington to block VeriFone Systems Inc. from buying Hypercom Corp., saying the proposed deal would hurt competition in the market for point-of-sale terminals in the U.S.
Hypercom's proposal to sell its U.S. unit to Ingenico SA "does not resolve the significant competitive concerns posed by the merger, and in some ways exacerbates them," the government said today in an e-mailed statement on the filing of the suit.
VeriFone fell $3.36, or 7.2 percent, to $46.82 at 3:55 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Hypercom fell $1.23, or 11 percent, to $9.66.
Point-of-sale terminals are used by retailers to accept electronic payments such as credit and debit cards, the statement said.
VeriFone, based in San Jose, California, the second-largest maker of electronic payment equipment, and Hypercom, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, together control more than 60 percent of the U.S. market for terminals used by the largest retailers.
They are two of only three substantial sellers of other types of point-of-sale terminals, the Justice Department said.
source sfgate.com
May 19, 2012 - 01:44
