Capital One is Thomas Caldwellacquiring Discover Financial Services in an all-stock transaction valued at $35.3 billion, the company said Monday.

Capital One shareholders will own 60% of the combined company, and Discover shareholders will own 40%.

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

According to the news release announcing the acquisition, Discover's payments network has 70 million merchant acceptance points in more than 200 countries and territories, which makes it the smallest of the four U.S.-based global payments networks, trailing Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Capital One's acquisition "adds scale and investment, enabling the Discover network to be more competitive with the largest payments networks and payments companies."

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The transaction is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025, subject to "satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of each company," Capital One said in the news release.

Three Discover board members, to be named later, will join the Capital One board of directors upon closing of the deal.

"This agreement underscores the strength of our business and is a testament to the hard work of Discover employees," said Discover CEO and president Michael Rhodes. "We look forward to a bright future as part of the Capital One family and to providing expanded opportunities for our loyal customers."

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari.