Capital One Financial announced Thursday it will acquire payments fintech Brex for $5.15 billion in a deal comprised of 50% cash and 50% stock.
The acquisition, expected to close in mid-2026, comes approximately one year after Capital One completed its $51.8 billion purchase of Discover Financial Services in May 2025.
Capital One disclosed the Brex deal alongside its fourth-quarter earnings announcement. Brex was last valued at $12.3 billion in its 2022 Series D-2 funding round, representing a decline of more than 50% from that peak valuation. The San Francisco-based company provides corporate card services, expense management software, and payments solutions primarily for startups and businesses. Founded in 2017 by Pedro Franceschi and Henrique Dubugras, who dropped out of Stanford to participate in Y Combinator's winter 2017 program, Brex initially focused on providing corporate cards to startups.
The company has since expanded to serve larger established firms including Robinhood, Zoom, and Anthropic. Franceschi will continue to lead Brex as part of Capital One. Co-founder Dubugras stepped back from day-to-day operations in 2024 to serve as board chairman. Capital One plans to spend approximately $950 million on transaction-related costs over the next three years, including integration and retention compensation. The company stated the acquisition will not impact its planned $16 billion share repurchase program announced in October 2025. The McLean, Virginia-based bank is the largest credit card lender in the United States following the Discover acquisition. Slightly more than 75% of Capital One's fourth-quarter revenue came from its $280 billion card portfolio.
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