Meta Platforms Inc, the owner of social network Facebook, is behind a US $60 million deal to acquire the trademark assets of U.S. regional bank Meta Financial Group, spokespeople for the companies said on Monday.
The deal underscores how valuable the Meta name has become for the technology giant, which is betting that its focus on the metaverse-shared digital spaces accessed via the internet through an array of devices will pay off handsomely in the coming years.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Meta Financial said that a Delaware company called Beige Key LLC agreed to acquire the worldwide rights to its company names for $60 million in cash. It did not reveal who the owner of Beige Key was.
A Meta Platforms spokeswoman said that Beige Key is affiliated with us and that we have acquired these trademark assets. Meta Platforms' involvement was confirmed by a MetaBank spokesman.
Meta Financial partners with institutions, including government agencies and financial technology firms to offer banking services, in addition to offering products through its MetaBank subsidiary, including consumer savings, loans and credit cards, and commercial lending.
In October, Facebook's parent company changed its name to Meta Platforms. The tech giant sees the metaverse as the successor to the mobile internet, because it has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality.
Last week, Meta Platforms opened its previously invite-only Horizon Worlds app, where users of its Quest virtual reality headsets can play games and interact as avatars, to over 18 users in the United States and Canada.
The concept of the metaverse, which is a topic of several Silicon Valley companies' earnings calls and requires cooperation from tech giants, could be more than a decade away from being fully realized.
The Meta Platforms spokeswoman said the company was engaged in discussions with Meta Financial before Facebook's name change was announced.
Meta Financial has embarked on a brand strategy review earlier this year, but the MetaBank spokesperson wouldn't say anything about the negotiations beyond the contents of the filing.
Meta Financial's shares were trading 1.5 per cent lower in mid-afternoon trading, giving it a market value of around US $1.74 billion. The Meta Platforms rose by 1.6 per cent, valuing it at US $933 billion.