Jack Dorsey’s Square to acquire Australian giant Afterpay in a $29 billion all-stock deal

Jack Dorsey’s Square Inc, which is the payments company of microblogging platform Twitter Inc, will acquire Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion. This acquisition will turn Square into a global online transactions giant.

Square and Afterpay announced that the sale would allow both companies to expand access to consumers and drive incremental revenue for merchants of all sizes, in a joint press release on Sunday.

Through this deal, Square’s merchants will provide payment via installments at checkout. It will also allow Afterpay customers to manage their installment payments in Cash App. Businesses that provide an Afterpay payment option, will be available to Cash App users.

The deal will be paid in all-stock by Square, which will appoint one Afterpay director to its board of directors after the agreement is finalized. The companies said that the all-stock buyout would value the shares at $92.65 apiece.

Afterpay’s co-CEOs, Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar will join Square and assist in leading Afterpay’s merchant and consumer businesses. Its shareholders are estimated to own around 18.5% of the new company.

The Australian buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) platform, has more than 16 million customers and is used by 100 million businesses around the world.

"Square and Afterpay have a shared purpose. We built our business to make the financial system more fair, accessible, and inclusive, and Afterpay has built a trusted brand aligned with those principles," Square co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey said in a statement.

The sale which has been approved by Afterpay’s CEOs requires the regulators’ and shareholders’ nod. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Picture Credits: Business Insider