Visa Preps for IPO with $2.6 Billion Legal Set Aside

A filing by Visa Inc. with regulators last week gave prospective investors some new information while leaving much under wraps as it prepares for its impending initial public offering.

Visa announced it would trade under the symbol V on the New York Stock Exchange, according to its newest S1 document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The San Francisco-based payments network didn’t provide information on the number of shares it intends to sell, a price range for the IPO, the date of the IPO, or how much it sought to raise through the offering.

Visa reported a loss of $861 million for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, primarily due to setting aside $2.6 billion for litigation expenses, including $1.9 billion to settle a suit brought by American Express Co. Visa agreed in November to pay AmEx as much as $2.25 billion over the next four years to end the antitrust case filed against the Visa policy that banned its member banks from partnering with AmEx to issue cards.

Visa set aside another $650 million as it faces a similar suit by Discover Financial Services.

The loss compares with a profit of $453 million for the 12-month period ending Sept 30, 2006.

Visa reported revenues of $5.2 billion for the period ending Sept. 30, up from $3.9 billion for the same period in the previous year, according to the preliminary prospectus.