Credit card giant Visa has raised more than US$17 billion in the largest share offering in US history, despite a growing financial crisis in the country. Visa Inc burned its name into the record books for US initial public offerings as investors seized on its growth potential and lack of direct exposure to the global credit crisis.

Visa Inc sold 406,000,000 shares priced at US$44 each, raising nearly US$17.9 billion. “Visa expects net proceeds from the offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, to be approximately US$17.3 billion,” the company said.

The price was higher than the expected US$38 to US$42 a share, a sign of strong demand for Visa’s stock. Visa’s IPO easily broke the US record of US$10.6 billion set by AT&T Wireless in 2000.

But it is well short of the world’s largest IPO, a US$21.9-billion offering by Chinese bank ICBC, The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, on Shanghai and Hong Kong markets in October 2006.

Best bets

Visa, owned by a consortium of banks,  joins its rival MasterCard, which went public two years earlier. Both MasterCard and Visa are seen as good bets to avoid the market turmoil. Analysts say neither is directly exposed to rising defaults and late payments because it does not issue cards, unlike rivals such as American Express Co.