Capital One to buy Discover in $35 billion deal

Capital One Financial said it will purchase Discover Financial Services in a $35.3 billion deal that will combine two of the nation's largest credit card issuers. 

The transaction, which was announced Monday, will trade Discover shares for Capital One shares. This will massively benefit Discover investors, whose shares were worth $110.49 at the close of the market Friday, as they will be receiving Capital One Shares that were worth more than $137 at market close, per Google Finance.

"Our acquisition of Discover is a singular opportunity to bring together two very successful companies with complementary capabilities and franchises, and to build a payments network that can compete with the largest payments networks and payments companies," Richard Fairbank, the founder, chairman and CEO of Capital One said. 

Capital One is the fourth largest credit card issuer, according to financial outlet WalletHub, citing 2022 data, while Discover is the sixth largest.

Discover works with 70 million merchants across more than 200 different countries and territories, and the acquisition is "a key foundation in Capital One's quest to build a global payments company," per the credit card company. 

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