Justice Sues to Stop VeriFone-Hypercom Deal
The U.S. Justice Department moved Thursday to block VeriFone Systems Inc.’s proposed $485 million acquisition of Hypercom Corp., saying the deal would harm competition in the market for payment terminals used by retailers to accept credit and debit cards.
News of the antitrust lawsuit pushed down the companies’ share price. VeriFone was off 6.7 percent at $46.64 and Hypercom was down 12 percent at $9.59, in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Justice Department said the two companies control more than 60 percent of the U.S. market for point-of-sale terminals used by the largest retailers.
