Visa, the world's largest credit card payment system, has said it plans a series of restructuring moves that will ultimately result in the sale of shares through an initial public offering.
The restructuring will create a new corporation called Visa Inc. which will include most of Visa's operating units worldwide.
But Visa Europe will not be part of the series of mergers that will create Visa Inc. and will remain a membership association owned and governed by its member banks, Visa said in a statement. It will become a licensee of Visa Inc.
The move follows a similar decision to go public by Visa's rival card payment system MasterCard Inc., which floated its shares in May.
Both Visa and MasterCard face lawsuits on various issues from American Express Co., Morgan Stanley's Discover Card unit and numerous merchants and state attorneys general.
Visa said that as part of the restructuring, its board would be comprised of a majority of independent directors. It is searching for those directors and for a chief executive for Visa Inc., it said.