Visa's Abandoned Plan to Acquire Plaid : What Could Have Been a Textbook Case of a Killer Acquisition

The applicability of the notion of killer acquisition to digital platforms has long been debated.The case of the proceedings brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against Visa in November2020 (before their joint dismissal in January 2021) is even more interesting insofar as it makes itpossible to illustrate and discuss its different facets ranging from the notion of competitionsuppression to that of consolidation and extension of the dominant position. Even if theacquisition project was eventually withdrawn, the complaint analysis also makes it possible toquestion inter-digital ecosystem competition and shed light on the issues related to monitoringacquisitions undertaken by dominant companies