US: PayPal challenges Square with US$2.2b EU acquisition

Days after iZettle said it planned to seek a listing on the NASDAQ Stockholm stock exchange, PayPal Holdings has announced that it is acquiring the Swedish payments company for US$2.2 billion in cash. With the deal, which may close in the third quarter, iZettle’s co-founder and CEO, Jacob de Geer, will reportedly continue on with iZettle, TechCrunch reported.

“iZettle and PayPal are a strategic fit, with a shared mission, values and culture – and complementary product offerings and geographies,” said PayPal president and CEO, Dan Schulman, in a statement. “In today’s digital world, consumers want to be able to buy when, where and how they want. With nearly half a million merchants on their platform, Jacob de Geer and his team add best-in-class capabilities and talent that will expand PayPal’s market opportunity to be a global one-stop solution for omnichannel commerce.”

The news comes almost one year after iZettle said it would enable users across Europe to register local mobile payments methods and send invoices through its point-of-sale app. With the app, businesses could enable the British Pay by Bank app, Swedish Swish, Norwegian Vipps and MobilePay in Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Full Content: Techcrunch

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