US banking giant JP Morgan and the majority owner of Greek payments firm Viva Wallet are battling each other at an English court this week over the valuation of its joint venture. JP Morgan acquired a 48.5 per cent stake in the Athens-based payments fintech Viva Wallet, in 2022 for $800m (£637.2m). The unicorn fintech was valued at more than $2bn (£1.5b) at the time of the deal. WeRealize is named on the legal documents of the lawsuit. Viva Wallet is the fintech that JP Morgan acquired a stake in, while WeRealize is the holding company. Speaking at the time of the deal, the bank’s global payments Takis Georgakopoulos described it as a strategic investment to support the bank’s vision of new growth and payments innovation targeted at European small and midsize businesses. However, earlier this year the US banking giant issued legal action against the holding company in the English High Court, but on the same day, WeRealize filed a lawsuit back against the bank. The core dispute concerns the interpretation of a call option process under a shareholders’ agreement, which gives JP Morgan the right to buy fintech shareholding in Viva. Under the terms of the shareholder agreement,...