Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, is paying $60m to acquire the trademark assets of US regional bank Meta Financial Group, as it strives to strengthen its branding and marketing position around the much-vaunted Metaverse.
The developing Metaverse involves digital spaces accessed through the internet using a variety devices, including 3D headsets.
It is seen by Meta as the next big thing since the establishment of the mobile internet, and ostensibly the main reason Facebook changed the name of its holding company to Meta this October – although bad publicity around citizen privacy and toxic content on its platforms would also be cited for the name change by the company's detractors.
Meta Financial said in a regulatory filing yesterday that a Delaware company called Beige Key had agreed to acquire the worldwide rights to its company names for $60m in cash, without disclosing who the owner of Beige Key was.
Meta Platforms has confirmed however, that Beige Key is in fact “affiliated with us” and that the trademark assets have now been acquired on behalf of Meta. Meta Financial has also now confirmed the real identity of the buyer.
